Smiles
by Marmy
Summary: As Amelia continues her mother's work of trying to discover what happened in Aperture on Bring Your Daughter to Work Day, one of her satellites comes across an artificial intelligent construct named Wheatley who has quite the story to tell. This is a continuation of my first story "Love As a Construct."
1. Chapter 1: Discovery in Space

**(YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE: I would like everyone who reads this to know that this story follows my first story "Love As a Construct." If you haven't read that yet, I suggest you do to avoid any confusion. It took me a long time to really decide to start writing this story. I had a slight conflict with the Portal/Half-Life timeline, but I managed to fill in the plot holes. Anyway, enjoy the story! That's why I wrote it.)**

Amelia hurried to the main warehouse with a huge smile on her face. This was it. They had finally found _something_ after searching for over fourteen years. Five out of seven satellites had been destroyed by the Combine, but one had actually found something. Not only that but it had successfully retrieved it. She finally had something! This was _it!_

When she got to the warehouse, almost everyone else was already gathered around the satellite. There was excited conversation echoing off the walls of the warehouse. Amelia had fixed her dark hair up into its usual bun at the base of her skull, but her hair was still slightly damp. She had still been in the shower when she had received the news about the landing. However, she managed to straighten her spine and approached the crowd with a professional appearance.

"Alrighty," she said in an authoritative voice. "Let's all settle down. I know we're all excited, but we need to find out the details first. Doctor Hessen?"

A fairly young scientist stepped up to her. "Yes, Chief Oates?" he asked.

"What are we handling today?"

"Well, it seems to be a spherical mechanism," Hessen explained. "It has one blue light on it that takes up a good portion of one 'side' of it. It also seems to have an artificial intelligence program installed on its hard drive."

Chatter erupted from the crowd. At least three dozen people were talking at once.

"Quiet!" Amelia commanded—though she could barely contain her own excitement. "If it is indeed an artificial intelligence then we must all stay calm. We don't want to scare it, do we?"

There was a low mumbling in response before Amelia shushed them all. "And Hessen, does it bear the logo on it?" she asked.

Hessen's eyes widened a little. "Of course, Chief," he said. "It wouldn't even be worth mentioning if otherwise, right?"

"Let's not go so far as to say _that_," Amelia said. "Would you like to do the honor of opening the hatch? I trust that the machine hasn't been damaged by water from falling into the sea."

"Give us some credit, ma'am," said one of the other rocket scientists. "That satellite has a watertight seal. No water would be able to get into it."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Amelia said, that eager grin reappearing on her face. "Open up the hatch!"

Hessen programmed the satellite to open up its hatch. When the door slowly opened, a metal ball just bigger than a basketball looked around at the crowd with a big blue optic. Its pupil was shrunken in fear.

"Wh-Where am I?!" he asked. Interestingly enough, it spoke in a male British accent. He seemed to relax when he realized what kind of creatures were swarming around him. "HA! HUMANS! Oh, man alive! Real, not-dead humans!"

No one made a sound. Every single person wanted to say something to the small bot, but none of them wanted to be the first one to talk to him. That is, no one except for Amelia.

"Hello, my round metal friend," she said. "You seem to be slightly damaged. Do you feel like you're functioning well enough? How do you feel?"

"Well, to be honest, I'm exhausted!" the bot said. "Exhausted and sore! I feel like I fell down _a thousand miles_ and landed on concrete! It was awful!"

"I'm sure it was," Amelia said. "I assure you, though, that our satellite gently carried you down with a tear-proof parachute. May I just look around your eye for a moment?"

"I suppose that wouldn't be out of the question," the bot said. "I'm just so happy to hear the voice of a human again. I really am. I mean, you have no idea how long it's been."

Amelia smiled more as she kneeled down in front of him and lightly touched his metal shell. He was very worn for wear. His casing looked like it had gone through a lot. Amelia would have bet that he _had_ considering that they had found him out in space. But there it was—below his optic and to the right.

"Here it is!" she exclaimed. "The Aperture Laboratories logo!"

A cheer exploded from the crowd behind her. The bot looked around anxiously, but he seemed a bit proud.

"Why is that important?" he asked Amelia.

"You are the breakthrough in our search that we've been waiting about a decade for," Amelia said. "You are just what I've been waiting for. And do you by any chance know of the Aperture Incident with the Genetic Lifeform and Disc Operating System?"

"Oh, you mean _her_," the AI said. "I know all about that. In fact—"

"Save your tale for later, my friend," Amelia interrupted. "For now, let us take care of you. We shall have you examined for repair and have your battery charged before your interview."

"Well, that sounds quite lovely. You're an awfully nice group of humans."

"We try our best." Amelia couldn't stop smiling. She was extremely eager to start asking him questions, but his optic was cracked and he looked in desperate need of a good polish.


	2. Chapter 2: The Story

Wheatley sat in a crate in a very nice room. There were leather chairs surrounding a wide coffee table. The people here had put him into a metal crate and set it into one of the chairs. They had told him that the crate was the best way to keep him from rolling around everywhere. They hadn't expected to find a spherical AI unit so this was all they had on short notice. He didn't mind so much, but the crate did limit his movement quite a bit. Still, though, he enjoyed being among sentient beings again.

A door opened and the young woman from earlier approached him. She smiled at him and he noticed that she had a dimple in her chin. She sat in the chair opposite of Wheatley and crossed her legs leisurely.

"Hello, Wheatley," she said. "Are you comfortable?"

"Actually, it's a bit cramped in this crate," Wheatley said.

"I understand and I apologize," the woman said. "We're working on installing management rails around the facility so you can move around freely."

"Oh. Well, that's awfully kind of you."

"We just want to make your stay here as comfortable as possible."

"You mentioned something about an interview earlier, Miss…"

"You can call me Amelia."

"I'm Wheatley."

"How did you get that name?"

"I…I can't actually remember..."

"That's alright. That's not something I need to know."

"What _do_ you want to know?" Wheatley asked with a hint of suspicion. "What kind of questions do you have for me?"

"Oh, very simple things," Amelia said. "The main one being what happened at Aperture? The world lost contact with Aperture Laboratories not long before the Black Mesa incident."

"That was all _her_ doing," Wheatley said. "That computer that you inquired about earlier."

"You mean the Genetic Lifeform and Disc Operating System?"

"Let's call her GLaDOS for short," Wheatley suggested. "It's simpler."

"I agree."

"Well, that's quite a long story," Wheatley said. "I don't think you'd want to hear all of it."

"Oh, I have plenty of time," Amelia said with a huge grin. "Believe me. I've been waiting for this for a long time. I want to hear every detail."

Wheatley sighed. "Okay. Well, it all started with a woman named Caroline. She had been seeing Cave Johnson, right?"

"_Founder_ Cave Johnson?" Amelia asked.

"Yeah, that guy. Well, when he died, he ordered for Caroline to be put into his main computer. From what I've discovered in my time in the mainframe, Caroline put up quite a fight with the scientists but they managed to upload her mind to the computer."

"Your time in the mainframe?" Amelia asked.

"I'm not even close to that part of the story," Wheatley said. "I told you it was a long story."

"Well, I'm hooked now," Amelia said, resting her cheek in her palm. "Please continue."

"Caroline became GLaDOS and gassed all of the scientists in Aperture. All but _one_, I should say. Doug Rattmann hid from GLaDOS and used a test subject to take her down. Total systems crash. That woman—er, the test subject, I mean—couldn't be stopped by anything. Ever. Not even by me."

"Not even you, you say?"

"Yeah, and I tried really hard. Well, when I was a proper villain."

"So what happened after this test subject caused a crash of the system?"

"A long time of nothing," Wheatley replied simply. "I went about my business watching after humans in stasis. Well, that's a lie. I spent most of my time with Nora."

"Who is Nora?" Amelia asked. All of this new information was exciting and she wanted to know everything.

"Oh, Nora!" Wheatley said. Amelia could imagine him with the biggest blissful grin. "She was brilliant. Absolutely brilliant in every way. She was a bit smaller than me with a beautiful purple eye. She was so kind and so innocent. They _created_ her to be innocent, but she was also so brave. Didn't seem at all afraid of me when I had total power and was a total prat. Who can blame her for turning against me? No. No, she never turned against me. _I_ turned against _her_."

"It seems you have a lot to say about this other bot," Amelia remarked.

"Well, she's only the best bloody person I've ever met! Everything started to fall apart, though, a little after that woman woke up from long-term suspension."

"The test subject that crashed GLaDOS?"

"Yeah. She had been put into long-term suspension for some reason and was one of the only living humans I could find after coming across many dead ones."

"What happened after you found her? The test subject, I mean."

Wheatley told her the whole story. He told her about leading the test subject to the Aperture Handheld Portal Device, which he shortened to the "portal gun." Amelia seemed interested in this device when he explained it to her. He went on to tell her about finding Doug Rattmann who had been in a fit of delusions. Amelia seemed even more interested in Doug. Her eyes would light up a little whenever Wheatley would mention him. Wheatley explained how he had accidentally rebooted GLaDOS and how he had been crushed. Doug had repaired him and helped him get to the test subject. Along the way, though, Nora's case had been damaged, and Wheatley still blamed himself for not being able to protect her.

Once he had found the test subject, he helped her escape to GLaDOS' chamber. They had replaced her giant head with his little body.

"And that's where everything went wrong, I'm afraid," Wheatley said. "I became…a _monster_. A terrible, power-hungry monster with the most annoying itch hardwired into the system. I wanted to test all the time. I couldn't help myself. Nora, being the angel that she is, felt bad when I forced the test subject and GLaDOS down a seemingly endless pit."

"Why did you do that to the test subject?" Amelia asked.

"I don't know!" Wheatley said defensively. "I just got angry at her! I-I thought she had been using me to get to the surface! I was only thinking of my Nora!"

He continued to tell her about designing tests and Nora's lack of interest in it. After she had stood up to him and told him how he had changed, he had lost his temper with her. He had beat her up until Doug came to the rescue. Later, he tried to squeeze information out of Doug about where Nora was but Doug had told him that she was lost in the facility. Doug had provided him little company but soon ran away because he got sick of Wheatley. So Wheatley had tried to test with various Weighted Storage Cubes combined with sentry turrets until the test subject showed up again.

"It's funny, though," Wheatley said to Amelia. "Just before the test subject returned, I came across my dear Nora. She seemed to forgive me but she wasn't happy with what I'd been doing. I started testing with the subject, but I was beginning to lose the solution euphoria that I got after each test was solved. I found two cooperative testing bots in storage so I…..decided to…kill the woman."

"You decided to kill her?"

"Yes. I can't explain my reasoning. I just wanted her gone. She was of no use to me and I knew she was dangerous to me. She would escape one way or another. And she did. My foolproof plan wasn't as foolproof as I'd thought, and while I was busy trying to retrieve her Doug stole away my Nora. The subject ended up getting into my lair and I had to come up with a five-part plan to kill her."

He explained to her the odd dreams that he had had from getting knocked out by bombs. He told Amelia of the cores and how he had tricked the lady into heading straight for the bombs he had set up. When he got to the part with the portal to the moon opening up beneath him, he hesitated with apparent unease. He could still vividly remember the feeling of the air rushing out into the vacuum of space and he shivered. That awful feeling of dread and fear trickled throughout his mind.

Amelia was becoming concerned for he hadn't said anything for about half a minute now and that seemed unusual for the little bot. "Wheatley?"

He shook his head curtly to get back to his senses. "After she shot the portal to the moon…A freezing rush of air sucked me out into space. Sucked _us_ out into space. It was so big and empty up there. I tried to convince the test subject to get me back into the facility but GLaDOS took over again before I could save either of us. I don't know what happened to the woman, but I was knocked into space with that annoying core that kept babbling about space. He orbited around me for a while before he spun around too much and just drifted away from me."

"What was it like?" Amelia asked, leaning forward a little. "Being in space, I mean. What was it like to see everything?"

"Lonely," Wheatley replied absently. "Miserable. Cold. I hated every minute of it. I orbited Earth, and I could look down and see where Michigan was. Or where I _thought_ it was. I could imagine that Doug had gotten Nora somewhere safe outside of the facility. It made me sad because I wanted to be free with her. I think back to our conversations when we were still friends and I would start sobbing. After a while, though, I stopped crying at the longing thoughts and memories. They never did me any good anyway."

"How long had you been up there before we picked you up?"

"Don't know. I had to turn off my internal clock to conserve energy."

"Well," Amelia said, straightening up. "You've been through a lot, haven't you? And you've given me quite a lot of information. Would you feel comfortable with us putting you into sleep mode long enough for us to fix you?"

"Absolutely!" Wheatley said, his mood improving drastically. "Could you try to fix my eye? It's been cracked for a while."

"It's not too noticeable," Amelia said. "But I think we can give it a look." She gave him a wink before standing up and heading for the door. She stopped with her hand on the doorknob, and turned back to give Wheatley a polite smile. "Thank you for everything you've told me, Wheatley. You have been very helpful."

"It was nice to talk about it," Wheatley said.

Amelia exited the room, and one of her older colleagues was waiting for her outside the door. He was an engineer and looked eager for a report on what had been said. "Well?" he asked.

"You can wait for the official report just like everyone else," Amelia answered. The man suddenly got a page on his pager. It was the same page that was going out to everyone else at this moment. It called for a meeting about the interview. "See?" Amelia said. "Told ya so. Now come on. We don't want to be late." She turned away and hurried back to the warehouse where the satellite was. She was really excited to deliver the news. They would soon be going into Aperture to save possibly the last living scientist there.


	3. Chapter 3: Celebration

"Ladies and gentlemen," Amelia started off once everyone had gather in the warehouse again. "I have very interesting news for everyone. First of all, I would like to release the name of the AI as being Wheatley. He had a very fascinating story to tell me. If you want to hear the full interview, it has been videotaped and will be available for anyone to view tomorrow.

"Now let's move onto the big news." Everyone seemed to tense up in their seats with anticipation; Amelia smiled because this was the effect she had been going for. "Based on what Wheatley has told me, we have good reason to believe that there is at least one living human left in Aperture Laboratories. The man in mind is Dr. Doug Rattmann and is known to have schizophrenia. Therefore, this is a delicate matter. If we plan to go into the facility to retrieve Dr. Rattmann, we will need to be careful around him, assure him that we are real, and let him know that we are completely safe. This is what we've been aiming for. My mother wanted to help her colleagues at Aperture and that's what we're going to do. Tomorrow morning at oh-seven hundred, a quick conference about the operation will be led by Grant Muller who will also be leading the expedition. Those of you who will be going on this expedition have known who you are for a long time now so I will be expecting each of you to be there.

"I have one tiny request that you keep it a secret from Wheatley. I want it to be a surprise for him. For now, though, let's celebrate! There will be a party in the ballroom in an hour."

* * *

They broke out the champagne and cake for the party. Wheatley was set down in a soft cushion in a cart. People swarmed to socialize with him and ask him questions. They had fixed the crack in his eye and had buffed his case so that he looked nice for the party. He had never felt so popular before among such smart people. Wait, that wasn't entirely true. He had a vague memory of scientists giving him praise for performing short psychological and personality tests. This made him feel uneasy so he tried to focus on the merriness of the party, but he just couldn't. He needed Nora to make him feel more confident, but she wasn't there. She was miles and miles away.

"Are you okay, Wheatley?" Amelia asked. She'd noticed that he kept spacing out.

"Actually," Wheatley said, "could I talk to you in private?" He nodded slightly toward the people that kept staring at him curiously.

"Ms. Oates," someone called behind Amelia. She turned around to see Arin standing there. He had dark brown eyes that often looked wild when he was working on a project. He loomed over others when he spoke to them but his slender frame made him much less intimidating. As he looked at her now he had an excited, impatient smile stretching across his face and his eyes were a little wild. "I was wondering if I could borrow you for a minute."

She didn't want to leave Wheatley alone with everyone bothering him. He looked like something was troubling him and that he wanted to be left alone. "Sure," she said. "Hold on a moment." She turned to the people crowding Wheatley and said, "Why don't you guys go mingle? Wheatley isn't used to all of this attention."

The group reluctantly dispersed to get champagne or cake.

"Wheatley, I'll be back in a few minutes," Amelia said before following Arin off to the side of the party. "What's up?"

"Well, I was waiting to tell you about this for your birthday when it was finished," Arin said, flipping his long brown hair out of his eyes impatiently. "However, under these circumstances, I think now would be the perfect time. I'm not exactly sure how to tell you this so I'm just going to say it. Remember that project that Black Mesa had that had to do with realistic military androids?"

"Yeah, of course," Amelia said. "My mother would tell me about its progress all the time. She would tell me that the androids would look just like us when they were finished."

"Yes, well, Black Mesa was extremely close to achieving this before the Incident," Arin explained. "I led a small group of engineers to pick up on this project a while ago, and we're almost done. We've even improved the design a bit so that the androids will be able to use food as a fuel. Remember in _Back to the Future 2_ when the DeLorean could run on garbage for fuel? It's kind of like that."

"Really?" Amelia asked, cocking an eyebrow. "So they would be just like humans?"

"Yes!" Arin said, getting excited. "Don't you understand? We could use Wheatley to test one! All we need to do is give one of the male models a face, skin, hair, and eyes."

"Wheatley would probably love that!" Amelia said, smiling. "That's great, Arin! There's no way I can repay you enough."

"I-I'll take dinner as a repayment," Arin said sheepishly. "Maybe tomorrow night?"

"It's a date," Amelia said. "Thank you so much. I should be getting back to Wheatley now. I'll see later."

"Great!" Arin said. "I'll—um—I guess I'll see you at the meeting tomorrow morning."

Amelia returned to Wheatley and she could have sworn that he was looking at her smugly. "What's up?" she asked him.

"That guy fancies you," Wheatley said.

"What?" Amelia said. She could feel blood rushing to her cheeks. "What are you talking about? No he doesn't."

"I couldn't hear what you two were talking about but I noticed the way he was looking at you," Wheatley said. "That's how I used to look at Nora. You see, I wasn't entirely truthful earlier when I told you my story. I confessed my love for Nora when we were trying to help the test subject escape from _her_."

"Oh?" Amelia asked, sitting down next to the bot in a cushioned chair. "You were in love with her?"

"Yes. I had been terrified of her response, but it turned out she had mutual feelings for me."

"But you said that you'd lost your temper with her and had—um—hurt her."

"I did but I feel terrible for it!" Wheatley said, getting defensive again. "I beat myself up every minute for what I did to her! I miss her so much right now. It's been so long since I last saw her. I never even got to say good bye to her. She could be dead now for all I know."

"Don't say that," Amelia said. "Why would she be dead?"

"After everything you've heard about GLaDOS, do you really think that she would let Nora live?"

Amelia didn't want to give him her honest opinion because she didn't want to upset him anymore than he already was. "Would you like to go to sleep early?" she asked, trying to be helpful in some way.

"No," Wheatley said. "I usually wasn't in sleep mode for nights. You don't understand how I feel, do you? Nora meant the world to me. She was everything I had. I used to think that if I didn't have her, I'd have nothing. And guess what? I have nothing now."

"Don't think like that," Amelia said. "Maybe she _did_ get out of Aperture. You said that you hadn't seen her since she was rescued by Doug while you were busy with the subject."

"You don't need to try and make me feel better, Amelia," Wheatley said. "I've given up hope and I'm fine with that. Now I just want to try to get used to being around so many humans again. I've never seen so many of you so happy."

"Well, of course we're happy," Amelia said, smiling. She was glad that he was talking about something more positive now. "We have you. You're our first connection to Aperture in years, and you're big news. If there's anything we can get you, please let us know. I'm going to go get some cake now. I'll come back later to see how you're doing."

She got up and headed toward the cake table, but first, she turned back to look at him. People had already crowded around him again and were asking him questions. She sighed. If only she could give him someone from Aperture. She hoped that Doug Rattmann would be enough to make him happy again.


	4. Chapter 4: Requesting Nora

Amelia was on her way to the meeting. It was nearly ten minutes to 7 am but she didn't want to be late so she didn't stop for breakfast. She also had something gnawing at her mind that she wanted to bring up in the meeting.

"Amelia!"

She turned around to see her friend Zellie catching up with her. Zellie's long brown hair flowed behind her like chocolate milk. She grinned knowingly at Amelia. "I heard a little rumor about you last night."

"Oh?" Amelia said. "What might that be?"

"I heard that you're having dinner with Arin tonight."

"Well, he's going to be giving me a present soon," Amelia tried to explain. "I just wanted to repay him by having dinner with him."

"A _present?_ What kind of present would that be?" Zellie asked with a wink and a nudge.

"Don't think like that," Amelia said. "You're embarrassing."

They came to the conference room where almost everyone was already sitting down. Amelia sat in her reserved spot next to Grant Muller, who sat at the head of the long table.

"Good morning, Chief Oates," Grant said in his deep, scratchy voice. He was a man of experience at the age of fifty-five. His face crinkled at the eyes when he smiled at her. He hadn't shaved for a while so he was rocking a short, peppered beard. "How are you doing this morning? Ready for the exploration tomorrow?"

"I'm itching to head out," Amelia replied. "I'm glad we have that tunnel to go through. To be honest, I'm scared to see what this country has turned into."

"I think we all are," Grant said. "Certainly the Combine is still in control. I've heard that Freeman has reappeared, though."

"Grant, those are just rumors. How would any of us know that?"

"I'm sure some of the younger recruits find some way to sneak out. Some of us are bound to catch cabin fever."

"Well, if I ever find them, there will be harsh punishment."

At 7:00, the doors were locked up and Grant passed out articles to everyone around the table.

"I'm glad to see that everyone could make it this morning," Grant said. "Shall we begin now? I'll try to make this as brief as possible since we'll have to spend the rest of today prepping for tomorrow. As you can tell by looking around the room, there will be twenty of us attending. We shall make most of the journey by taking the bullet car through the Aperture Tunnel. When we get there, we shall break off into groups of five—Wait a minute. Where's Taylor McDowell?"

"Taylor has food poisoning," a young man said across the table. As Amelia turned to look at him, she couldn't help but notice that Arin was staring at her. Their eyes met and Arin looked down at the table nervously. Amelia began to wonder if Arin might have a crush on her and how long this had been going on for.

"He does?" Grant asked. "Crap. Well, I guess we can have one group of three. Anyway, today will mostly be spent getting all of our supplies together. The supply includes the following: ample food and water rations, a flashlight, a small grappling hook, a handheld communicator, a bola, a net, and a multi-tool weapon. The multi-tool weapon can be used for hammering, prying, screwing and unscrewing, cutting, and—God forbid—killing."

"We're not hunting an animal, you know," said a forty-something year old member of the party. She had short blonde hair that was parted in the middle, and her frame was as bold as her mind. "This is a rescue mission. There's no way I'm throwing a net over this doctor, let alone kill him."

"I understand what you're saying, Patty," Grant said. "I agree with you. He's a human being and I would much rather we bring him back alive and well. However, you shouldn't forget for a minute that this man has schizophrenia and could be very dangerous. We don't know how long he's gone without medication or how far he's gone from sanity."

"I refuse to hunt him," Patty insisted. "He's practically one of us. What's his name again?"

"Doug Rattmann," Amelia said. "I'll be calling him Doug."

"Then so will I," Patty said. "He doesn't need a knife in him. He needs compassion."

"Listen, these hunting tools are just a precaution," Grant explained. "I don't want to use them anymore than you do, but I also don't want any of my team to die. If I may make a suggestion, I think everyone should brush up on their fighting techniques and read on how to detain someone safely. If this guy tried attacking one of us, I'd rather he be put down than one of our teammates. Don't hesitate to defend your group. And I mean from _anything_.

"I want everyone at the Aperture Tunnel tomorrow morning by oh-five hundred. If there are any issues about the mission, now would be the time to bring them up."

Amelia raised her hand.

"Chief Oates? You have an issue with the mission?"

"More of a request than an issue," Amelia said. "See, Wheatley spoke of another core—a friend of his in the facility. He's really been missing her and I was just wondering if we could look for her as well as Doug while we're in there."

"I'm sorry, Chief Oates, but we can't risk being in there for too long," Grant said. "Humans have top priority over machines—artificially intelligent or not."

"But she could help us—"

"I'm sorry, Oates, but we need to find Dr. Rattmann. If we happen to come across this AI, we will take it with us, but that's all I can promise."

* * *

After the meeting had closed, Amelia decided to grab some food. It was almost ten in the morning—meaning they had spent about two and a half hours going over how to use the equipment and discussing who would be in a group with who. Amelia had originally been put into a group with Patty and Grant, but Patty insisted that they have a code monkey named Mikey replace Grant. Patty had managed to persuade Grant that he should be in a group with three of the less experienced members. Amelia was perfectly fine with this. She was getting sick of being undermined by Grant.

On her way to the cafeteria, she noticed the management rails being installed on the ceiling of the hallway. She smiled, imagining Wheatley zooming down this rail. She hoped it would make him happy. He had been through so much crap and it was about time for him to take it easy. She reached the cafeteria and grabbed a fresh tuna sandwich. As she studied the selection of drinks, she imagined bringing Doug to the cafeteria and wondered what food he would pick out. She also wondered what he had been eating for all the years he'd been trapped there.

_I bet he'll be famished when he find him,_ Amelia thought. _He'll probably want to eat everything._

She decided on milk and went to the checkout. Nobody had to pay for their food at the checkout. They just had to document how much of each product they were taking away. It was merely to keep it on record. She took her food into her quarters and was surprised to see Wheatley sitting on her couch.

"Wheatley," she said, surprised. "Hi. What are you doing here?"

"I don't know where else to go," Wheatley said. "People only want to ask me technical questions."

"I understand that," Amelia said. "That's every day of my life." She sat down next to him and took the shrink wrap off of her sandwich. "Why don't you tell me about Doug?"

"Doug?" Wheatley asked, puzzled. "Why? He was just a human."

"I'm just curious."

"Well, he was very helpful toward both Nora and me. And he fixed me up after GLaDOS had broken me. He must be pretty strong since he was able to carry Nora and me at the same time. I have to admit, he did comfort me when I was having a nervous breakdown. I was panicking because I couldn't find Nora while she was at the bottom of Aperture, and Doug told me whatever I wanted to hear. Assured me that she was alright even though he had no reason to believe that himself. Doug isn't a bad guy but he can be quite annoying. He always kept reminding me of what I'd done."

"I'm sure that Doug was just upset with all AI units," Amelia suggested. "He probably has a lot of issues with them after all of his colleagues died."

"He didn't have any issues with _Nora_," Wheatley said. Amelia thought that she had picked up a hint of jealousy in his voice. "He was nice to her. I bet they got real cozy when they were alone and I was dealing with the test subject."

Amelia smiled. "You're a very complex machine, Wheatley," she said. "And I like that."

"You do?" He looked up at Amelia with surprise. "To be honest, most humans can't stand me."

"Sounded like the test subject could stand you."

"Yeah, she found me alright. Her name was Chell. I suppose she was my friend. Why can't I have friends without hurting them?"

"Don't dwell on this, Wheatley," Amelia said, reaching over and patting his case. "Do you know what happened to the test subject? We could find her and you could make amends with her."

"She's probably dead. GLaDOS had been so intent on killing her that she's most likely been killed with lasers or turrets."

"You know what? I think things will get better soon for you. Unfortunately, though, I have to go on a mission tomorrow. I might be gone for a few days."

"Really? Where are you going?"

"I'd tell you but it's—um—classified."

"Oh. It isn't dangerous, is it?"

"Honestly, it will be the most dangerous thing I've ever done in my life."

"Well, try not to get killed," Wheatley said, wishing he could smile reassuringly. "You seem like an alright human and it would be a shame if I lost you, too."

Amelia could feel that yank at her heartstrings. "Thanks, Wheatley," she said, giving him one of her rare genuine smiles. "I really appreciate that."


	5. Chapter 5: Date Night

Amelia knocked on Arin's door. It was a little past 8 pm and she was nervous. She had found a navy blue dress that made her look curvier and made her gut less noticeable. Truth be told, she'd never been on a date before. She had always been really busy with work and never took an interest in finding a boyfriend in their little facility. Her insides fluttered as she knocked again.

"Sorry! I'll be right there!" Arin called from inside. He opened the door to let her in. His hair was perfectly brushed down to his shoulders. His eyes weren't wild today; they actually seemed a bit watery. Amelia had never seen him dressed so sharp with a short-sleeved blue dress shirt. "You look great, Ms. Oates."

"Arin, please call me Amelia," she insisted with a polite smile.

"Amelia." He smiled. "Please, come in." He stepped aside and beckoned her inside. His quarters weren't as big as hers. He had set up a small table in his lounge with two places set. Amelia caught the aroma of steak drifting in from the kitchen. Arin pulled out a chair and Amelia let him push it in for her once she had sat down. "Can I get you a drink?"

"What do you have?"

"Is white wine alright? I have some chamomile wine."

"I prefer red wine but that's alright."

"Are you sure?" Arin looked a bit anxious. "I can go out and get something different."

"Arin, it's okay. Why don't you poor me a drink?"

Arin disappeared into his kitchen and Amelia could hear him taking the cork out of the bottle of wine. She looked around at Arin's personal items. He had a few pictures of an old woman with a little boy on her knee or standing next to her. The little boy had dark, wild eyes. He also had many drawings framed up on the walls. They were cartoons of crazy-looking people with disproportionate bodies and funny looks on their faces. She thought back to an old cartoon that her mother had shown her that was on a cassette tape. _Ren and Stimpy,_ Amelia thought. _There was a Chihuahua and a red cat. It was so farfetched._

Arin suddenly returned with two glasses of a light golden liquid. He set one down in front of Amelia and sat down across from her. "I like your hair today," he said. "I like brown hair. And I don't know if I've ever seen you with it let down before."

"I'm sure you must have at least once," Amelia said.

"No, I haven't. I like how it waves down to your back."

"It's getting kind of long," Amelia said. She self-consciously combed her fingers through her hair. "I think I might get it cut soon."

"No, don't. I think it looks good. Um, I'm going to check on the food really quick." He got up and returned to the kitchen.

Amelia took a big sip of her wine. This was awkward. She couldn't relax enough to enjoy the evening. She took a deep breath through her nose and released it through her mouth. This didn't help much at all. _Why do people always say that this is relaxing?_ she thought as she tried the exercise again. She had a little more wine.

Arin suddenly carried in a platter of small steaks wrapped in bacon. He set down the platter between them on the table and served his guest one. She took a bite of the bacon and beef.

"What do you think?" Arin asked cautiously.

"It's pretty tasty," Amelia said. She hadn't known that Arin was such a good cook. She realized that she didn't know a lot about him, and felt kind of bad. "I was just looking at your drawings. They're really good."

Arin looked away as his face turned red. "They're okay," he said. "I can do better than if I try harder."

"Your style reminds me of a certain cartoon."

"_Ren and Stimpy_?"

"Yeah, that's it."

"I used to watch that all the time back in 2005. My grandpa had taped them and saved them so I had the whole series."

"My mom used to tape it, too. That and _Rocko's Modern Life_."

"I love _Rocko's Modern Life_!" Arin exclaimed with a big smile. "Cartoons used to be so great. I would doodle in school all day. I started trying to draw cartoon characters in different styles."

"I can tell by your picture of CatDog in the style of _Ren and Stimpy_." Amelia was beaming now, too, and she meant it.

"My grandpa used to love that one," Arin said, shifting to a solemn mood. "I wanted to bury it with him but my grandma said that he would have wanted me to 'show it to the world.'" He smiled again but there wasn't much humor on his face.

"What happened to him?"

"Heart attack." The smile disappeared again. "The Combine soldiers were getting so close to us and he couldn't take it. He got all worked up and was saying that he was going to go out and fight them off. He got too excited, though."

"I'm so sorry," Amelia said. She thought about reaching over to put her hand over his, but she couldn't bring herself to do it.

"Enough about that," Arin said. "Let's eat. How do you like the wine?"

"It's not as sweet as I thought it would be," Amelia said. "I like it."

"Great. I'll get something better next time."

"Next time?" Amelia smiled and cocked an eyebrow.

"I-I mean only if you want to," Arin said nervously. "I'm not expecting you to come here all the time. I know you're a very busy woman."

"Relax, Arin," she said. "I'm having a good time. I might come back."

"Sorry if I seem nervous," Arin said, looking down timidly. "I don't know if you can tell but I'm not used to having a woman in my quarters. Can I be honest with you?"

"Of course."

"I spent most of my day asking other guys how I should act tonight while we got all of the supplies together. I even asked a few women."

Amelia tried to suppress a giggle. "That's kind of cute," she admitted.

"Is it?" Arin gave her half a smile. "I thought you would think it's dorky."

"I like dorky."

"Great. That's all I am."

They continued to eat and brought up the subject of old cartons again. They also brought up anime that they used to watch. The memories that were stirred by their conversation was really starting to get to her, though. She remembered how her mother would recite a line from _Ren and Stimpy_ just to make her laugh. She would often do this when she was scared to get a shot at the doctor's office or when she had to sing in a concert for school. One of her favorite lines that her mother would repeat, though, came from _Ed, Edd, and Eddy_.

"Hey, Amy," her mother would say. Amelia would turn to her. Then her mom would say in a deep, dopey voice, "Buttered toast." And Amelia would giggle.

"Are you okay, Amelia?" Arin asked.

Amelia was suddenly aware that she had tears lingering in her eyes. She didn't dare wipe them away, though, for she knew that they would just smear across her face. She blinked. "Can we sit on your couch for a while?" she asked.

"Yeah, of course." Arin picked up the plates and cutlery. "It's nice to see a girl who can clean her plate."

"May I have some more wine?" Amelia asked sheepishly.

"Sure." He poured her another glass and led her over to his loveseat. It was a plain red loveseat that was worn and springy. They sat down and Amelia took a big breath.

"You were honest with me about how nervous you were about tonight," she said. "Can I be honest with you now?"

"Of course you can," Arin said, surprised that she had to ask.

"I mean, if I tell you something, do you promise not to tell anyone else?"

"Yes, of course. You can trust me."

Amelia sighed again. "I'm not as strong as I try to appear to be," she started. "I have no fucking clue what I'm doing. I'm not skilled in anything at all. I only know what my mother taught me."

"I only know what my grandma and uncle taught me," Arin said. "I had to read up on the rest."

"But I can't do anything," Amelia said. Her voice started to shake. "Did you notice how Grant undermined me this morning at the meeting? I'm not even a leader, am I?"

"Of course you are." Arin put his hand on hers. "Don't listen to Grant. He's a jackass."

Amelia took a drink of her wine. Her head was feeling a bit swimmy now. She leaned against Arin and her eyes watered.

"I miss my mom, Arin," she said, her voice really quaking now. She swallowed down a hard sob. "I never got to say goodbye. She was all I had. Sh-She was my best friend."

Arin put his arm around her and she began to sob. "I'm scared," she cried. "I'm scared to go into Aperture. This mission was meant for my mom, not me."

"Don't say that, honey," Arin said gently. He pulled her close to him and rested his face on the top of her head. Her hair smelled like lavender. "You've got more passion about this mission than anyone else in this place. You're a fantastic person. So much is expected of you and you never fail us. You're stronger than you think."

"I don't _feel_ strong," she cried.

"Well, you are so don't argue with me about it," Arin said. Amelia looked up at him and saw a little grin on his face as his eyes watered. "If you disagree with me anymore, I'll lock you up and only feed you rotten pickles until you admit that you're strong."

She laughed. "Okay, you win," she said. "It's just so hard sometimes. I really want to help Wheatley out by bringing him a good friend."

"Doug Rattmann is his friend, right?"

"Yeah, but he would much rather prefer Nora. Have you seen the tape of the interview?"

"I saw it this afternoon. He seemed enamored with this other AI core."

"That's why I want to get him Nora."

"I'm sure he'll be happy to see Doug again."

"You're right. I can't wait to find Doug."

* * *

After deciding that 11:00pm was a good time to go to bed, Amelia quietly opened the door to her quarters. She could see a blue light in the darkness of her living room.

"Is somebody there?" Wheatley asked in the darkness.

Amelia flipped on the light switch and Wheatley squinted in the light. "Ah! Hello, Amelia," he said. "I've been up waiting for you. How was your date?"

"It was nice," Amelia said, stumbling a little toward the couch. She'd had two more glasses of wine after she had opened up to Arin. "Arin is a nice guy."

"Well, that's good," Wheatley said. "How about we watch some television? I don't think I've ever watched television before."

"All I have is old tapes and DVDs," Amelia said. "And I have to go to bed. I need to get up pretty earlier tomorrow." She headed to the bathroom and used the toilet. Then she brushed her teeth and went into her room.

"Amelia?" Wheatley called from the other room.

"I'll be there in a minute, Wheatley," she called back. She got out of her dress and took off her bra. Then she put on a tank top and shorts. She was about to return to the living room but she decided that she should take off the tank top and put on an oversized t-shirt. "What's up, Wheatley?" she asked as she walked into the room.

"Um…Are you going to leave me in here?"

"Why? Where do you want to spend the night?"

"Well, I've been alone for so long in space and I….Well, I was wondering…Could I stay in your bed with you?"

Amelia raised her eyebrows.

"It's just that I've been so lonely and I don't want to be that lonely ever again," Wheatley explained. "I just need comfort and interaction with others. I need bloody company, Amelia. Please don't leave me alone. I've been staring around the room the whole time you've been out. I just need to know that I'm not alone."

"It's alright, Wheatley," Amelia said. "I'll bring you into my room, okay?" She started to lift him and found that he was heavier than he looked. "Oh my god! You're heavy!"

"Am I? Doug never seemed to have a problem carrying Nora nor I."

"Just let me try grabbing your handles." She did and that worked a lot better than trying to get a grip on all of him at once. She carried him to her room and sat him on her bed. Then she lied down next to him and turned to face him. "Happy now?"

"This is comfy," Wheatley said. "I like beds. I've never been on a bed before."

"Wheatley, how were you created?" Amelia asked curiously.

"I'm not sure. You'd have to ask a scientist that. Don't you need to go to bed?"

"Yeah, but I don't know if I can really sleep."

"Why's that?"

"I feel depressed."

"I've been feeling a bit depressed lately, too."

"No, Wheatley, I mean I have depression. I don't take any medication for it, though. I try to manage it on my own and it's a stupid idea. I know I need medicine to make me feel better but I'm afraid it will only make me feel worse."

Wheatley looked around awkwardly. "I'm sorry, Amelia," he said. "This is one of those human problems that I can't quite understand. You see, we Personality Cores don't have chemicals in our brains that cause that sort of problem."

"It's more of a lack of a chemical," Amelia said. "I'm sorry I'm bothering you with this. I just feel like shit. I feel like everything is terrible right now and that nothing will get better."

"Hey, don't say that!" Wheatley said. "Things will get loads better! I promise. When you get back from your mission, I'm going to make sure you start feeling better."

"I appreciate it, Wheatley, but this is just a natural part of my life. Let's just go to bed." She turned over and switched off the lamp. "Good night, Wheatley."

"Good night, Amelia."

Amelia fell asleep sooner than she thought she would, but Wheatley stayed awake. He watched her sleep in the dim light of his eye. He had to make her feel better. She had been so nice and compassionate to her. There just had to be a way to dissolve her depression. Unfortunately, Wheatley hadn't a clue what to do.


	6. Chapter 6: Anticipation

Amelia was startled awake by her phone's alarm. She had forgotten that she had set it yesterday. She turned off the alarm and was surprised to find Wheatley in her arms. He opened his eye and his pupil shrank as he noticed that his eye was pressed against her chest. She let go of him and rolled out of bed. There was a _thud_ as she hit the floor.

"Are you alright?" Wheatley asked.

"Yeah!" Amelia hopped up onto her feet. "Yeah, I'm fine. I need to take a shower."

"What time is it?"

"Three-thirty in the morning."

"That's pretty early."

Amelia grabbed her uniform and hurried to the bathroom. Wheatley waited patiently for her to come back. He could hear the shower running as he looked around the bedroom. There was a picture of a woman on the nightstand. She looked like Amelia but was older and had a giant smile on her face as she held a little girl on her back.

_This must be her mother,_ he thought. _She's got the same hair and eyes._

He searched the walls for more photos of this woman but there didn't appear to be anymore. The walls were actually bare save for one mirror hanging over the dresser. He wondered where Amelia's mother was in the facility. She probably had her own quarters. Amelia seemed like such an important person around here that her mother must be very proud.

As the sound of the blow dryer could be heard from the bathroom, he started to wonder if there were other robots in this place. There must have been. So many people had come up to him during that party to ask him questions about his hard drive and what not.

_What personal questions they asked!_ Wheatley complained in his head. _I don't ask them about their human brains, do I?_

He felt that he desperately needed to talk to someone who actually knew him; someone who wanted to be personal with him. That's when Amelia came back into her room. She was wearing a blue knit shirt with the sleeves rolled up and form-fitting jeans.

"Amelia, you look like a spy in those clothes," Wheatley said. "Are you going off to fight some James Bond villain?"

"No, I'll be up against something much more dangerous," Amelia said. She dug through her closet a bit until she found her ankle-high boots. They only added to her mysterious look.

"Amelia, dear," Wheatley said. "Would you mind doing me a favor while you're gone?"

Amelia looked at him curiously. "Sure, Wheatley," she said. "What's the favor?"

"Do mind that you don't get yourself killed while you're away."

Amelia smiled. "I'll do my best. Should I have someone come get you out of here later so that you can be social with my colleagues?"

"That sounds alright. When will you be back?"

"It could be a few days."

"Oh…..Well, good luck."

Amelia felt like a zombie as she went through the cafeteria line. She was so sleepy. Maybe she shouldn't have stayed up so late the previous night. She put some coffee on her tray with some scrambled eggs and proceeded to the checkout. The person at the checkout stand looked just as tired as she was. He was just finishing his shift and looked like he needed a good nine hours of sleep.

Amelia hurried to an empty table and rested her head on the cool tabletop. She wondered if she'd miss the mission if she fell asleep right now. She could only hope. Dread was seeping into her more and more as she thought about going into that death trap called Aperture. She'd had a nightmare about choking on neurotoxin last night and she was taking that as a bad omen.

"Tired?" Arin asked as he sat down next to her.

"A little."

"Me, too. I'm going to sleep for a while on the ride there."

"That's a good idea. I think I just might do that, too."

"Aren't you going to put your hair up in your normal bun?"

Amelia sat up and tied up her hair in a snug bun. "I don't know how I forgot to do that," she mumbled.

"You're just tired. Let's eat and go to the bullet train soon so that you can take a power nap."

All of the women were wearing the same uniform that Amelia was wearing, and the men were wearing a similar version. Most of the others around her shared the same tired expression. Arin's friend Jon approached Arin and Amelia as they arrived at the Aperture Tunnel. Amelia noticed that he looked like he'd lost some weight recently, but she couldn't place why. His still ate a bag of potato chips every day. Today, he looked jittery but sleepy at the same time, and he kept scratching his dark beard nervously.

"Hey, guys. How's it going?" he asked almost in a rush. "I heard you went on a date last night. How'd it go?"

"It was nice," Arin said. "Are you okay, man? You seem hyper."

"I had two energy drinks for breakfast," Jon said. "Gotta stay sharp today. I couldn't find my hat, though."

"I think you left it in the conference room."

"Damn it! I still have a half hour. I'm gonna go get it really quick." Jon hurried off to the conference room.

"Is he okay?" Amelia asked.

"I don't know," Arin mumbled. "His dog Sweetie is getting really old and I think it's been getting to him lately. I'm pretty sure he's starting to dread the day that she dies and he doesn't know how to deal with it. Yesterday while we were gathering supplies, Jon was saying that he was worried that Sweetie wouldn't get fed enough while he's gone."

"Do you think he's worried that she'll die while he's gone?" Amelia asked.

"That's possible. Plus, he's a crush on someone here."

"Who?"

"Natalie."

"What?" Natalie asked as she entered the room. Her brown hair hung loosely around her shoulders and she had a sweet smile on her face. She was a very sweet person.

"Um, I was just telling Ms. Oates who I'm in a group with," Arin said.

"Now that you mention it, where's Jon?" Natalie asked as she looked around for her friend. "He's not flaking out is he?"

"No, he went to grab his hat," Arin said. "He'll be back at some point. It would really suck if we didn't have him on this mission. Just look at how many people haven't even showed up yet."

Arin was right; there were only a dozen people at the door of the tunnel. Nearly half of the expected expedition team was missing. Amelia hadn't noticed this before, but now that she did, she was furious.

"I can't believe this," she said. "Everyone who doesn't show up is going to be punished. This is an extremely important mission."

"Don't worry, Chief Oates," Grant said as he approached her. "They'll learn their lesson once everyone who actually shows up gets rewarded beautifully."

"It just pisses me off."

"I'm here!" Jon said, running toward them. "Don't leave yet! I'm back!"

"We still have twenty minutes, kiddo," Grant said. "Calm down."

Grant left the little group while Jon doubled over and panted with his beige hat clutched in his hand.

"Are you okay?" Natalie asked.

"Yeah," Jon panted. "Yeah, I'm fine, Nat. I just….need to take a breather…..Are you guys excited? This is it!"

"I'm pumped for this," Arin said. "We'd have to go in sooner or later."

"This is gonna be awesome!" Jon said. "We'll be heroes! I can't believe we're really doing this!"

"Yeah, me neither," Amelia said.


	7. Chapter 7: The Outside

Amelia opened her eyes in the bullet train. Arin was sitting in the seat next to her. He had fallen asleep, as well, and was snoring a little. The compartment she was in had five seats that were facing each other in a star formation. There were five other compartments. She sat up at looked over at Natalie who was reading. Natalie met her gaze and smiled.

"Sleep well?" she asked.

"I guess," Amelia said. She rubbed her eyes and looked at the ETA clock. They had about twenty minutes to go. She turned back to Natalie and saw Jon sleeping in the seat next to her. Jon was snoring loudly like a large dog. Arin slept more like a terrier as he curled up in his seat. Amelia felt sore so she stood up and stretched.

"How are you holding up?" Patty asked.

"I feel rested now," Amelia said. "How are you?"

"I'm restless," Patty replied. "I want to walk around on the surface."

"I do, too," Natalie said. "It's been so damn long since I last felt the warmth of the sun."

"What I miss is the rain," Patty said. "I miss that earthy smell that comes with a fresh spring rain."

"We'll be back on the surface soon," Amelia said. "Can you believe it?" No one answered. Amelia looked at Natalie and saw that her eyes were watering. "What's wrong?"

Natalie sniffled and did her best to keep an even expression. "It's nothing," she said. "Just a stupid little fear."

"What are you scared of, dear?" Patty asked.

"Well….What if the Combine soldiers find us? What will they do to us?"

"Sweetie, they won't catch us," Patty said. Jon roused from his sleep at the word "sweetie."

"What's going on, guys?" Jon asked, rubbing his eyes. "Are we there yet?"

"No, not yet," Patty said. "But we'll be there soon."

"Hey, what do you think the weather is like on the surface right now?" Natalie said as she tried to wipe away any stray tears.

"It's spring, right?" Jon asked. "It'll probably be raining cats and frogs up there."

"I hope so," Patty said.

Everyone in the compartment who was awake discussed what they missed about being on the surface and memories from a far simpler life. Arin kept snoozing, twitching every so often in his sleep as he dreamed. Jon talked about playing kickball on the surface with so much energy and passion that the women's hearts filled with hope instead of dread. Maybe they could play a game or something before they had to go into Aperture.

Then the intercom crackled and Grant's voice traveled to all of the compartments. "Good morning, my colleagues. We are just arriving at the end of Aperture Tunnel."

Amelia could feel the train shift gears and begin to slow down.

"Everyone please buckle up and stay in your seats until the train has come to a complete stop. Also, try to keep your pants on and stay patient about getting to the surface. No pushing or pulling anyone out of the way. We'll all get up there in good time."

Arin stirred awake and yawned. "Are we there?" he asked.

Once the train had come to a complete stop, everyone piled out of their compartments and onto a platform. There was a lift against the concrete wall in front of them that disappeared into the ceiling. It was large enough for fifteen people but they had thirteen so it wasn't hard to fit everyone in.

"Excited?" Grant asked Amelia as they ascended up the damp walls.

"That's one emotion that I feel," Amelia said. "Another might be fear."

"You'll be alright," Grant said. "You're not the only one who feels ambivalent about this."

It felt like twenty minutes before they finally stopped. The elevator opened up to a landing at the bottom of a set of stairs that were lit by dim lights at the top of each landing. As they climbed the stairs, Amelia felt more and more exhausted. She couldn't wait to get to the surface just so she could sit down again. After eighty-four stairs, they finally made it to a thirty foot ladder that led to a hatch that was just big enough for a full grown man to fit through. Grant led the team up the ladder and punched a code into a dial pad that unlocked the hatch. He twisted it and threw it open. Sunlight immediately flooded the ladder.

Natalie giggled. "It's so warm!" she exclaimed.

"I think I smell flowers!" said Mikey the code monkey.

They climbed up out of the hole and everyone sat on the grass which was still a little wet with dew. As they looked around, they noticed that some of the bushes and trees had been cut down or torn apart—some even looked like they'd been blown away. But new plants were beginning to grow in their places. Purple flowers that bloomed in tiny explosions grew by the roots of the trees and little bushes were beginning to sprout. The sun wasn't very high in the sky yet so it was still cool out.

Amelia lied down in the grass and sighed. She could smell the plants and the dirt. It didn't bother her at all that the dew was soaking her hair and clothes because it felt too good to be in the grass again.

"It's not raining but it's still lovely," Patty said. She walked up to a tree and traced the patterns of the bark with her fingers.

"Jon, help me up this tree!" Arin said, running to a larger tree. He and Jon resembled young boys as they helped each other climb up the tree. Jon was heavy enough to make the branches creak, but they managed to hold his weight. Amelia smiled at them.

"Hey, can I come up, too?" Natalie asked as she looked up at them.

"We really should get going," Grant said. "Have you already forgotten the reason we came up here in the first place?"

"Hey, do you guys hear running water?" said Carla—who was a researcher back in the compound.

Everyone grew silent and listened for water. There was indeed the sound of water moving not too far away. Arin hopped down out of the tree and hurried toward the sound.

"Arin, wait up!" Jon called after him. Then everyone followed Arin. "Guys! Wait for me!"

Arin was the first to find the stream. It was small but it babbled as it flowed through its trench. Amelia soon caught up and knelt down to dip her hands in the water. Then she quickly withdrew her hands and laughed because it was so cold. Everyone else joined her in dipping in their hands. Jon finally caught up and took off his shoes to wade downstream of everyone else. The mud at the bottom of the stream felt great as it squished under his feet and between his toes.

"Hey!" Grant shouted impatiently. "Have you all forgotten about the mission?! We have a man to save!"

"Grant, sit down," Patty said. "Give us five minutes to enjoy ourselves. Most of us haven't been up here for almost fifteen years. We need time to enjoy this."

Grant gave in and dipped his hands in the water. He brought some up and splashed it in his face. The fresh, cool water against his rough and wrinkled skin was the best thing he'd felt in years. They all stayed by the river for ten minutes. Some stuck their feet in the water with Jon while others just let the water run over their hands. But Grant just kept splashing it into his face and savoring the sensation.


	8. Chapter 8: Edgeless Safety Cube

Once they were all able to pull themselves away from the stream, Grant pointed out to everyone that there was a tiny sign on top of the hatch when closed. He said that it pointed the way to Aperture. If they just kept heading in that direction, they'd find it. As they trekked in the direction of Aperture, Amelia kept checking her watch impatiently.

8:08 am.

8:13 am.

8:17 am.

8:25 am.

8:36 am.

It was around a quarter to nine when they finally saw the facility up ahead. It was about the size of a school and had white walls. There was a chain-link fence all around it with electrical barbed wire on the top. The whole thing looked…..underwhelming.

"Is that it?" asked Sophie—a young girl with a punk attitude. "That's the Aperture Enrichment Center?"

"Don't let your guard down," Grant said. "For all we know, that rogue computer is still in there. Let's head for the lobby."

They walked around to the front gate where Grant used heavy duty wires cutters to make a hole in the fence. Their first problem came with the lobby door. It seemed to be locked from the inside.

"Now what do we do?" Patty asked. "Should we try to pry it open?"

"No, these locks are too strong for that," Grant said. "It looks like it's been deadbolted. We'll have to focus on that."

"Let me handle this," said Alex. He was a tall, cocky young man who had always been sure that every girl had a crush on him. He winked at Natalie before he tried to break the door down by ramming into it with his shoulder. Natalie rolled her eyes when he yelped out in pain. "God damn it! Stupid fucking door!"

"Will you shut up?" Nate said in his Southern drawl. "Here, let me take a look at yer arm." He gently prodded Alex's shoulder with his fingers as inspected the socket joint. Alex winced a bit, but Nate announced that the kid appeared to have no damage done to the shoulder except for "one hell of a bruise."

"May I try something?" Mikey asked. "I've been brushing up on my chemistry and I—"

"Wait, why were you brushing up on your chemistry?" Sophie asked. "You belong in the computer lab, not the _chemistry_ lab."

"Well, it's extremely boring down there when you're just staring at a computer screen all day," Mikey said. "I had to do something else down there to keep my sanity so I went to chemistry. Anyway, while I was in the lab yesterday, I decided that it would be a good idea to whip up some industrial acids. I've constructed this special spray bottle that has a coating of a chemical on the inside that serves as a strong barrier between the acid and the thick plastic of the bottle. Anyway, this is just a prototype of the acid so I can't guarantee anything. I'll spray the deadbolt lock and see if it works."

Mikey dug out a plastic bag from his backpack. The plastic bag had an ordinary-looking spray bottle in it, and some of the team exchanged looks of skepticism as Mikey put on a pair of leather gloves. He gently pulled the spray bottle out of the plastic bag and aimed it at the lock. "Everyone stand back," he warned, and he sprayed a nasty-smelling liquid at the deadbolt. The acid slowly ate away the lock but it didn't stop. It also ate away the door and part of the door frame before it suddenly just stopped and seemed to disappear.

"Geez, Mikey," Arin said, grinning. "Way to go!" He clapped Mikey on the back in congratulations.

Cautiously, Grant stepped through the gap in the wall first. The lobby was large and used to be covered in white tiles, but now it looked decrepit and strange. There were plants coming out of the walls and growing down toward the floor. The white tiles were smudged with dirt and grime. There were many doors going to different departments of the facility. Mikey approached one of the vines that was draped down the wall and examined it.

"What the hell happened here?" Grant asked. "It's only been fifteen years since Bring Your Daughter to Work Day."

"Can plants grow that fast?" Nate asked.

"Doesn't matter," Mikey said. "These plants look like they've been enhanced in some way. Aperture probably made some kind of growth serum and it got to the plants somehow."

"You're on a roll, Mike," Nate said.

Mikey smiled and looked down shyly.

"Okay, everyone gather around," Grant said. "First, I want to hand out these bottles of antipsychotic pills. If or when we run into Rattmann, he needs to get a clear mind as soon as possible." He handed a bottle of pills to each person, and then took his place in front of the group again. "Since we're missing so many people we'll have to change the groups a bit," Grant said. "I'll be in a group with Sophie and Trent. We'll be Group A. Chief Oates, Patty, and Mikey will be together in Group B. Arin, Jon, and Natalie are in Group C. And finally, Alex, Nate, and Carla will make up Group D."

Everyone got into their groups. Arin seemed to look longingly at Amelia. He looked like he wanted to say something to her but he didn't.

"Okay, everyone keep your communicators on for emergencies," Grant said. "Group A will head toward the administrative offices. Group B will head toward manufacturing. Group C should look around the testing areas, and Group D should check the examination rooms."

The groups split up and opened their designated doors. Arin gave Amelia one last anxious look before he went through the door leading to the testing tracks. Amelia tried to keep her mind on the mission as she went through the manufacturing door that led them into a short hallway with many doors.

"Which door should we go through?" she wondered aloud.

Patty went down the hall and read the labels on each door. She stopped at the second to last door on the right. "I like the sound of Edgeless Safety Cubes," she said. "It sounds….safe."

"I agree," Mikey said. "It sounds safer than sentry turrets."

"Okay," Amelia said. "Edgeless Safety Cubes it is."

They opened the door and entered a large, seemingly endless room. Random lights on strange machines on the walls dimly lit their surroundings. They stepped onto on a catwalk with rails and a grated floor. When they looked down, they couldn't see the floor below them. The catwalk before them sloped down quite a bit before them but they couldn't see where it ended. They all looked at each other with doubtful expressions.

"Well, let's go," Patty finally said. "Otherwise we'll be in here for days." She walked ahead of them and the other two hesitantly followed.

They walked down the slope until it came to a level section and they looked around once more. Now they could see large glass tubes up ahead of them that were carrying spherical objects to different parts of the facility. The spheres were lit up and added bright, ominous light to the strange room. They continued down the catwalk and it got more compact as they walked between machines that were constructing the spheres.

"These must be those Edgeless Safety Cubes," Mikey said. "Do you think we should take one for examination back in the labs?"

"They're sort of big, aren't they?" Amelia asked. "It would be difficult to carry them."

"We'll use one of our nets," Mikey suggested. "I could carry it."

"Are you sure, dear?" Patty asked. "No offense, but you're a bit small and I don't want you straining yourself."

"I'll be fine. Just let me carry it." Mikey seemed a little annoyed as he took off his backpack and dug through it. He found his net and pulled it all out. "Now how do we get one?"

Amelia watched one of the machines put together one of the spheres. First, a small ball made of solid metal. Then it's covered by two halves of a larger heavy plastic ball that are secured by being melted together. Finally, the sphere was topped off with a steel casing with lights on it that was melded on. The meld crease was ironed out and the sphere was boxed up and sent off to a different part of the facility. Amelia walked up to one of the machines and snatched a finished sphere before it could be boxed up. The machine boxed up nothing and sent nothing off to a different part of the facility.

"Oh," Mikey said. "That was pretty easy."

Amelia shrugged and heaved the ball over to her colleagues. It was pretty heavy and she wondered if test subjects had really been forced to lug the thing around. Mikey put his net around the ball and pulled it up over his shoulder.

"God! This is heavy!" he exclaimed.

"Are you sure you can carry that?" Amelia asked.

"Of course, Chief Oates," Mikey said as his large glasses slid down his nose. "I can't make _you_ carry it. Shall we carry on?"

They continued down the catwalk past all of the assembly machines. There were so many machines just mindlessly doing their work without any thought about why they were making these heavy spheres. Amelia wondered how many machines were actually sentient like Wheatley in the facility. Eventually, they came across a fork in the catwalk where three different paths branched out. Down each path the lights slowly got dimmer.

"Which way do you guys think we should go?" Amelia asked.

"Well, if we go down one path, we might end up missing Doug," Patty said.

"But we shouldn't split up," Mikey chimed in. "That's too risky."

"We have our communicators," Patty said.

"It's still not safe!" Mikey said. "We shouldn't be separated from each other. We're stronger in numbers."

"I agree," Amelia said. "We need to stick together."

"This could be a mistake," Patty said.

"If it is, I'll take the blame," Amelia said. "Let's go down the left path first."

They started down the left side, and the lights seemed to grow dimmer until they were almost in the dark. The Edgeless Safety Cube glowed in the darkness on Mikey's back. The women had to get out their flashlights to properly see the catwalk in front of them. It wasn't too long before they came to a door frame. Amelia inspected it and thought it looked more like a vault would close on it than a door. It led to a small room with a vault blocking anyone from simply passing through it.

"Let me check this out real quick," Amelia said. "I want to see if there is some way to open the vault from the inside."

"Allow me to help," Patty said.

"There isn't enough room for more than one person," Amelia said.

"Alright, suit yourself," Patty said.

Amelia stepped into the room and shined her light on the vault door. It seemed locked up tight and looked like it could only open when activated by a computer. She knocked on the metal which seemed to be pretty solid.

"I don't think we—"

The vault door behind her suddenly slammed down and locked itself up tightly. A low red light glowed from above her.

"What? No!" Amelia exclaimed. She banged on the vault door and cried out for her companions. She stopped suddenly when she heard a female, robotic voice in the room with her.

"I don't know why you're here," it said. "And frankly, I don't care. You've brought me plenty more test subjects that are fresh from the outside world. I appreciate this generous contribution in the name of science."

Amelia didn't panic. She looked around the small room with her flashlight and noticed a large air vent by her legs. She took her backpack off and rummaged through it until she found a four-pointed screwdriver so that she could unscrew all of the screws.

"What are you doing in there?" the voice asked. "You humans can be so predictable. Do you think I don't know that you're trying to escape? It'll just be easier for me to catch you once you leave this room."

Amelia didn't listen to this voice. She treated it like a lying demon as she took off the vent's grate and crawled into the air duct on her hands and knees.


	9. Chapter 9: Back to Reality

Amelia crawled as fast as she could to get away from the robotic voice. She avoided openings and struggled not to touch any grates. There was no way that GLaDOS was going to get her to test. She was already behind the walls so she had an advantage. The air ducts felt like they were beginning to heat up. It wasn't any surprise to Amelia that GLaDOS would try to smoke her out. She didn't give in, but after ten minutes of sweltering heat she had to take off her sweater and stuff it into her backpack. Now she was crawling around in tight jeans and a sports bra but she was still too hot.

_There's no way I'm taking off my pants,_ she thought. _It would already be too embarrassing to run into any of my colleagues like this._

She stopped when she noticed an odd opening ahead of her. She could see colors on the opposite wall. As she cautiously crawled forward, she could make out a painted face. The face was that of a young woman with pale hair and pale skin. Her eyes were a vivid purple and her lips were painted into a smile. Amelia crawled forward more and came into a small room with empty water jugs and empty cans littering the floor. There was a computer tower on its side that had been converted into a sort of stove. The walls were decorated with murals of a Personality Construct with a purple eye. The little construct looked timid or happy in most of the paintings. Sometimes, she was depicted with Wheatley who looked at her with a loving gaze. Other pictures showed her with a cube with a heart on it. Amelia recalled Wheatley describing this as a Companion Cube. She also remembered him telling her that Nora used to work in the Companion Cube department.

_"She was a bit smaller than me with a beautiful purple eye,"_ Wheatley's voice echoed in her memory.

Amelia knew that this was supposed to be Nora, but was the human face supposed to be her, as well? The girl looked just as innocent as the construct did. She wondered if it had been Doug who had painted the murals. He didn't appear to be anywhere in sight. There was another vent open in the room but it was at her waist's height. She had to duck down and carefully pull herself into the vent. This air duct wasn't nearly as hot as the previous one so she decided to put her shirt back on. It was a relief to know that GLaDOS wasn't aware of her location at the moment, but she had to be super careful now.

_What I __**really**__ need to do is find my team,_ she thought.

She crawled on and wondered if she should try to make a large circle back around to where she came. What if GLaDOS found her colleagues? She had to do something about this. She tried to make the turns to get back around to the Edgeless Safety Cube manufacturing wing, but she just seemed to get more lost than she already had been.

_Should I use my communicator?_ Amelia thought. _I don't want any chance of GLaDOS tracking my location or hearing me._

Suddenly, a crashing came from behind her and it shook the air ducts. Amelia didn't hesitate to rush away from that spot. She knew she was making a racket as she scrambled through the ducts but she was too scared to care. Her palms and knees began to hurt as she slammed them into the metal as fast as she could. She rounded a corner and came face-to-face with a man. The man had shaggy black hair with a matching, scruffy beard. His face was thin and gaunt, and his sunken eyes were wild. They were both bright blue but the right pupil was dilated when the other wasn't. He stared at her as though he wasn't sure if she was real. Amelia smiled at him reassuringly.

"You must be Doug Rattmann," she said.

Doug flinched away slightly at the sound of his own name and he began to mutter to himself. Amelia caught the words "not real" and "savior." She recalled the way Wheatley had described his first encounter with Doug.

"Are you okay, Doug?" Amelia asked. "What's wrong?"

"H-How did you know my name?" he asked.

"We're here for you, Doug," Amelia said. "We've come here to save you."

"'We'?" Doug started to back away from her.

"Wait!" Amelia exclaimed. "Don't go! I can give you pills!"

Doug's eyes widened. "Pills?"

"Yeah, they're in my backpack right now."

Amelia smiled at him until he took her face in his hands and he pulled her in for a kiss. It was an extremely awkward kiss. His lips were dry and chapped. He tasted like old beans and bad breath. His calloused hands were rough against her cheeks. But she could feel his past suffering and relief in this kiss. She didn't want to take that away from him so she stayed paralyzed by the shock until he reeled back with embarrassment. He looked away awkwardly.

"Oh god!" he said. "I'm so sorry! That was extremely inappropriate. I-I'm out of my mind."

"It's fine," Amelia said. "Here, let me get you those antipsychotic pills." She took off her backpack and rummaged through it until she pulled out an orange bottle of pills. Doug snatched them from her hand, hastily skimmed the label, and swallowed two pills dry. He sighed and turned around in the vent.

"Follow me," he said, crawling back the way he came. Amelia followed him to a little, low-ceilinged den that was dimly lit by candles. The candles also illuminated sketches of white ovals with spiny legs and red eyes. There were more water jugs on the floor and some water was boiling in an empty bean can on a computer-stove. "Can I offer you some coffee?" Doug asked.

"Coffee?"

Doug took a bit of cloth and secured it on the top of a Styrofoam cup with a rubber band so it dipped a bit into the cup. Then he put some coffee grounds in the dip of the cloth and slowly poured the boiling water onto the grounds. He wrapped up the sopping grounds and handed the cup to Amelia.

"I'm impressed," she said and took a sip. It was bitter as hell and watered down.

"How does it taste?" Doug asked.

"Well, it tastes….um…"

"It tastes weak," Doug said. "You can say it. It's not great, but sometimes I just need a comforting cup of coffee."

"I get that feeling a lot. You could use some creamer, too."

"So anyway," Doug said, "why are you here? You mentioned that you were here with other people."

"Yeah," Amelia said. "My mother became dedicated to finding out what happened to Aperture after we lost contact with you guys. Then when she died, I inherited all of her responsibilities and the compound."

"Oh. I'm sorry." Doug looked away awkwardly, not knowing what to say exactly. "Uh—If you don't mind me asking, how did she die?"

"She was killed by Combine soldiers."

"Combine? What do you mean?"

"Oh, right!" Amelia said with realization. "You wouldn't know about them. The Black Mesa Incident happened after we lost contact with you guys. It's really hard to explain but the short version is that aliens from different dimensions have taken over Earth."

Doug sat there staring dumbfounded at her for a few moments. When he finally spoke, he said, "How can I tell that you're actually real?"

"I know it sounds farfetched—"

"I can handle a super computer trying to kill me for several years, but when you bring aliens into the mix….Well, that's just…insane."

"I know but you have to believe me."

Doug reached over and grabbed her hand. He gently squeezed it and ran his thumb down each finger from the knuckle to the nail. Amelia's face turned an embarrassing shade of red.

"You feel real enough," Doug said. "Please excuse me. I haven't been around another human in too long a time for me to remember. This just seems too good to be true."

"No worries."

"Okay, let's say I believe what you've said so far. Now I have a few questions. My first question is how did you know I was here? How did you know who I was?"

"Well, um, we found an Aperture satellite that had a lot of information," Amelia fibbed. "We managed to find out what happened and that you were still alive here."

Doug snorted a little. "I knew they'd been keeping taps on me. Well, why were you by yourself? You guys shouldn't have split up. You're safer in numbers."

"We had gotten organized into small groups but I got separated from my team. Then GLaDOS told me that she knew where I was, and as I tried to escape through the air ducts, she turned up the heat. I was panting by the time I made it to a little room with paintings."

"Oh," Doug said, suddenly turning shy. "You saw those, huh?"

"Yeah. Were they yours?"

"Drawing helps me keep what little sanity I can grasp when I'm—uh—having a fit of delusions."

"I like them," Amelia said as she looked around at the drawings around her. "What are those white ovals?"

"Trust me, you don't want to know," Doug said. "Speaking of danger, do your teammates know that you're safe?"

"Oh, crap. I should probably contact them." She took her communicator out of her backpack, and felt stupid when she realized that it had been switched off the whole time. She turned it on and chattering could be heard through the little speakers. There were dozens of pages on the device that were saying everyone should keep an eye out for Amelia. She held down a button and said, "Amelia here. Don't worry, Mikey and Patty. I'm alright. Over."

Half a second after she took her thumb off the button, Arin immediately said, "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?! WE'VE BEEN WORRIED SICK!"

"Geez," Doug said. "They were panicking, weren't they?"

"I'm alright," Amelia said into her communicator. "I just got separated and had a very slight run-in with GLaDOS. But I found Doug Rattmann so there's some good news. Over."

"You've already found Rattmann?" This time it was Grant's voice that came through. "Are you both safe? Where are you? Over."

"We're in some air ducts," Amelia explained. "Doug seems to know what he's doing so I think we're safe. Over."

"Well, it's getting late," Grant said. "Try to find somewhere to get some rest and we'll regroup in the lobby tomorrow morning. Over."

Amelia looked at her watch and was surprised to see that it was already past 9:00 pm.

"Okay, we'll head over there in the morning. Over."

"Be more careful!" Arin said. "Make sure you get back in one piece…..Over."

"Don't worry about me, Arin," Amelia said. "I'm in safe hands. Over and out." She sent out a message to everyone saying "Let's keep Wheatley a surprise for Doug." Then she turned off her communicator and sighed. "I've been running around this place for nearly twelve hours apparently."

"Time flies when your life is in danger," Doug said. "You'd be surprised. Anyway, we should probably get some sleep. I'll let you use my sheet tonight."

Amelia spotted a crumbled pile of sheets in a corner of the little room. Sitting close to it was a dirty gray cube that was about 2 feet by 2 feet on each side. There was a pink heart in the middle of each side. Was this what a Companion Cube looked like up close? "What's that?" Amelia asked, nodding toward the cube.

"Oh, that's just my Companion Cube," Doug said. "I can move it away from the sheets if you want."

"You don't _have_ to."

"No, it's fine. I like to have it closer to me anyway." He crawled over to the Companion Cube and scooted it to the other side of the room. "She's here to help us," he murmured to it. "Of course I'm going to trust her."

"Are you sure we're safe in here?" Amelia asked. "I don't like the idea of letting my guard down so much while a super computer wants me dead."

"I'm still alive, aren't I?" Doug pointed out. "Trust me. You're completely safe."

Amelia crawled to the nest of sheets and sat in them. She felt awkward about taking Doug's bed from him. The den had such a lived-in look to it that it felt like she was intruding in his home. Doug noticed her discomfort toward the sheets.

"I know it's probably weird for you to sleep like this," he said. "I'm sorry if you're uncomfortable with it, but this is kind of the only place you can safely get some rest."

"I understand," Amelia said. "I just don't want to take your bed."

"Please take my bed," Doug said. "You're my guest that's here to rescue me. I insist that you sleep more comfortably." Doug blew out the candles and now the only light came from behind a fan that was in the middle of the ceiling. A metal grate shielded the fan and cast odd, blinking shadows. "Let's get some sleep now. You're going to need it for tomorrow." He lied down on the hard metal floor and curled up toward the Companion Cube.

Amelia lied down facing the wall and covered herself up with some of the sheets. There was no way that she could fall asleep any time soon, though. She had too many things running through her head. One in particular was that the kiss Doug had hastily given her earlier was her first. It hadn't at all been what she had expected out of her first kiss. It wasn't romantic, his lips hadn't been soft, and it hadn't been with someone she loved. It was sort of disappointing.

Another thought that bothered her was that she had no idea whatsoever where the lobby was from here. She really hoped that Doug knew how to get there safely. He did seem very resourceful behind the walls and in the air ducts. And she did really have no other option. Her life was in Doug's hands, and although she had a great deal of respect for him, his instability concerned her. She turned over onto her side and could see Doug's face softly lit by the sporadic light from the fan. His face was so thin and gaunt. His naturally slim nose matched the rest of the appearance of malnourishment, but it innocently ended in a square. He didn't look like he could ever actually hurt her. He really just looked like he needed a good home-cooked meal and a hot bath. She slowly fell asleep with Doug's natural scent coming off the bed sheets and invading her sense of smell.


	10. Chapter 10: Testing

Amelia awoke to Doug gently shaking her awake. "Amelia, wake up," he said. "Your phone's alarm went off."

"I didn't know I'd left it on," she mumbled sleepily.

"Well, even though it's so early in the morning," Doug said, "I thought this would be a good time to get up. The sooner we get going, the sooner we can find your friends."

Amelia grumbled and turned over in the sheets.

"I understand if you want to sleep in," Doug said. "You probably didn't get enough sleep anyway. And three in the morning is a terrible time to get up. You can sleep-in while I try to gather supplies."

"No, it's fine." Amelia sat up and rubbed her eyes in the candlelight. "I just need some coffee."

"It's a good thing I have the water boiling then." Doug crawled over to his makeshift stove.

"I'll see what I can find in my backpack for breakfast," Amelia said, reaching for her bag.

"You have food?"

"I was given a food ration for the expedition in here." She hunted for her food ration and pulled out the first thing she could find. "Do you want some Survival Bacon?" She opened the can and the little room filled with the aroma of salty meat. She looked over at Doug who was staring at the can with hungry eyes. She held it out to him. "Here, you can have all of it."

"Are you sure?"

"You're practically drooling."

Doug hesitated before taking the can and stuffing as much bacon into his mouth as he could. He savored the pungent taste on his tongue as he struggled to chew with his mouth stuffed. Amelia had never seen anyone hungrier. He tried to say something but it only came out in mumbles. Amelia giggled a little. "What?" she asked.

"I said I'm sorry for acting like a pig," Doug said after he finally swallowed his mouthful.

"Don't worry about it," Amelia said. "You look really hungry. I can't wait to take you to the cafeteria back at the compound."

"I know already that I'm going to eat myself sick there." Doug turned back to the coffee and poured two cups. He handed one to Amelia. "Cheers."

"Cheers." Amelia raised her tin cup for a moment before taking a sip.

They sipped their coffee in silence for a few minutes, looking down and thinking about everything they would have to do that day. Doug went over all of the possible routes they could take to get to the lobby while Amelia thought about how he would be living in her guest bedroom. Would he care about her long showers? Would he remember to put the toilet seat back down after he goes pee?

"Amelia?" Doug suddenly said.

"Hm?"

Doug stared into his tin of coffee. "Um…I've never really been a social person," he started. "I always tried to keep to myself when I was working here. Am I going to be expected to talk to everyone?"

"Why?" Amelia asked. "You don't seem like you have a problem talking to _me_."

"Well, you saved me," Doug said. "You were able to pull my mind out of a very dark place. But I don't want to be expected to warm up to everyone just because they're with you."

"I promise you won't have to talk to anyone if you don't want to," Amelia said. "I want you to be comfortable at the compound."

* * *

After they had gathered everything that they needed, they got back into the air ducts. Doug was using the sheet to drag his Companion Cube behind him and Amelia followed the Cube. She decided that his attachment to the Cube wasn't entirely strange after all. It brought him comfort like a child with a blanket; Amelia had to admit that she still kept her blankie in the top drawer of her dresser.

As Doug heaved the Cube along, he tried to think of something to say. They had been silent for a long ten minutes and he really wanted to be able to talk to her, but he couldn't think of anything interesting to say. _This is your savior, damn it!_ he thought. _You should be able to find something to say to her._ He finally decided to talk about something that had been bugging him. "You know, I actually made it to the surface a few years ago."

"You did?" Amelia asked.

"Yeah," he said. "It was raining that day, and the trees and grass had a clean smell."

"What stopped you from leaving?"

Doug thought back to the vivid hallucinations he'd had that day. His friend Henry crumbling in front of him, the trees beckoning him, the blood soaking him, GLaDOS catching him. The panic that had swelled inside him as he thought about leaving had practically choked him.

"Well, there were two reasons why I didn't," he said. "First, I had to fix a friend of mine. And I just chickened out. The thought of leaving the premises freaked me out. I didn't know what was out there. I….I don't think I belong in society anymore."

"None of us belong in society anymore," Amelia said. "That's why we've been living underground."

Doug turned around to smile at her briefly before turning back around.

"Who was the friend that you had to fix?" Amelia asked. She recalled Wheatley mentioning that Doug had repaired him after GLaDOS had tried to kill him.

"She was a personality construct, but she was so kind and sweet that it was really easy to forget that she was an AI. I wish I could find her."

"What happened to her?"

"I don't know. I haven't seen her in a couple of years. I've looked everywhere that I can but this place is too big. Your team hasn't even scratched the surface of the facility."

"I wish we had time to explore the facility more," Amelia said. "Maybe we could find Nora."

"Well, I could at least show you some of the testing tracks," Doug said. "As long as _she_ isn't testing in them we should be safe."

He led her down a dead end and he managed to bust open the grate. He pulled himself out and lowered the Companion Cube to the floor before he gently helped Amelia down. They were in a small office with old computers and a window making up one of the walls. The window looked out into a large chamber with many brown tiles on the walls and floors, and there were dirty white panels lined up on the walls.

"This was used as a momentum test chamber," Doug explained. "The subjects would have to shoot portals and use their momentum from falling into one portal to fling themselves out of the other."

"And this is where the lab boys take notes on how the subject tested?" Amelia asked.

"Until they were all gassed."

"When was the last time this chamber was used?"

Doug was about to say, "Not for years," but he stopped himself as he noticed something. There were no plants growing out of the walls. In fact, there weren't even any panels or tiles missing from the chamber. It looked like it had been cleaned recently.

"Something's not right," Doug murmured.

"What?"

"She shouldn't be using this test chamber," Doug said. "Not for the cooperative testing. This is only used for humans…" He turned and opened the only door in the office. He heaved the Companion Cube up over his shoulder and carried it out into a corridor. Amelia followed him to a door a few yards to the right. Doug stopped and pressed his ear to the door.

"What is it?" Amelia asked, but Doug immediately held up a finger to her and brought it to his lips.

"It sounds like she has multiple people in a single-subject test," he said after half a minute.

"Could it be my teammates?"

"That's a possibility," Doug answered with uncertainty. "I'll peak around the door really quick to check it out." He opened the door and cautiously poked his head into the room and looked around. There were three people in the chamber—two men and a young woman—and each had their own portal gun. Doug returned to face Amelia who looked more anxious than ever.

"Well?" she asked.

"She's testing three people in there," Doug said. "There are two men and a young woman."

"Is one of the men slightly bigger than the other?" Amelia asked.

"Uh, yeah, I think so."

_Arin, Jon, and Natalie._ "We have to help them. I'm pretty sure they're my teammates."

"Well, of course we'll help them," Doug said, smiling. "Be very quiet when we go in, okay? We don't want her to know we're around yet."

He opened the door and silently slipped into the observation station. Amelia tiptoed into the room and peered into the chamber. To her relief, Arin wasn't in the test chamber. Neither were Jon or Natalie. The larger man turned out to be their Southern medic Nate. Alex was the other man and the young woman was a meek girl named Carla. They were all wearing identical orange jumpsuits with the Aperture logo patched on the backs. The chamber they were in had large red buttons and a weird orb of energy bouncing off the walls.

"What should we do?" Amelia whispered.

"Wait!" Doug hissed.

"For this test, I've decided that the last one to get to the lift is the loser and must pay with his life," GLaDOS said. "Do try to understand that this is all in the name of science."

Carla's dark eyes widened at this announcement and she looked to Nate.

"Don't worry, darlin'," Nate said. "I'm not gonna let anything happen to ya."

Doug stayed close to the back wall as he snuck over to the computer. He set down the Cube and pushed the power button on the tower. It took a few minutes to boot up but he managed to get it online to the system. He opened a command console and started to type out a code. When he hit enter, the lights went out in the chamber.

"What's going on?!" GLaDOS shouted. "Is that you again, you little, metal idiot?! How did you get back in here?!"

Doug entered another command and turned to Amelia. "Quick!" he whispered. "Let's get down to the chamber. I've loosened a panel." He hoisted the Cube over his shoulder again and directed Amelia out of the room. There was a flight of stairs nearby in the corridor that they headed toward.


	11. Chapter 11: New Found Loyalty

"I know this is you, Doug," GLaDOS said in the dark test chamber. "It's been a long time since you've dared to poke your ratty nose into my tests."

Doug was giggling as they traveled behind the walls of the chamber. He carefully pushed the loosened panel into the chamber.

"Hey!" he whispered to Amelia's friends. "Come this way! Follow my voice." He could hear the test subjects quietly approaching the gap in the wall.

"You know, Doug," GLaDOS said. "I've been working on a new variable for my tests. I call them the Not-So-Safety Disks. I was going to introduce them to the subjects later but….What the heck."

Suddenly, they could feel flat objects being shot at them. Alex got scraped on the thigh by what felt like an extremely sharp CD. Carla felt a lock of her hair get sliced off as a disk whizzed past her ear.

"Run!" Nate commanded his comrades.

The sounds of bare feet could be heard padding toward Doug and Amelia. They slipped through the gap and Doug led them up the stairs to the hallway where the observation rooms were. Amelia noticed that they seemed to have braces on their legs with a long black curved strip of metal that made each step springy.

"She can't reach us here?" Nate asked.

Doug shook his head.

"I find that hard to believe," Alex said. "Why wouldn't she be able to reach us in the hallway?"

"She just can't," Doug mumbled.

"I believe him," Nate said. "Doug, I am very grateful. Thank you." Nate held out his hand for Doug to shake, but Doug just stared at his arm. Amelia followed his gaze and saw that Nate had a deep gash in his forearm. The flesh was bright pink and blood was dripping down from his arm. The wound seemed to be swelling already.

"Oh my god!" she exclaimed. "Nate, can't you feel that?!"

"What?"

"Your arm!"

Everyone looked to Nate's arm. He held it up and as he spotted the wound his face grew pale. He laughed nervously.

"I, uh, I musta got cut by one of those disks," he said. "I guess I didn't feel it because I'm in shock." His body started to shiver all over and his yellow hair stuck to his forehead with sweat.

"Are you okay?" Carla asked. "You're bleeding a lot."

"Man up, Nate," Alex said. "It can't hurt that bad. I got cut on the leg and I'm not making a big deal out of it."

"That's because yours looks like a paper cut," Nate snapped.

Doug took Nate's arms in his hands and examined the injury.

"Hey, let go of him!" Alex demanded.

"Will you shut the hell up!" Nate shouted at him. "Sorry, Doug."

Doug shrugged as he gently prodded the edge of the cut with his thumb. "You're going to need stitches," he said quietly.

"I think that's a fair call," Nate agreed. "It feels like a deep laceration. Miss Oates, you're the only one who got to keep their first aid kit. Mind gettin' it out for me?"

Amelia nodded and took her backpack off to get out a white plastic box that snapped open. Doug put on some rubber gloves before taking out some antibacterial fluid and cotton balls. He cleaned Nate's wound which fizzed a little from the chemical. Nate hissed in pain a little but was grateful for the help. Then Doug got out the medical sewing kit with a sterilized needle.

"Do you mind rubbing a light anesthetic around the wound first?" Nate asked. "This is gonna hurt like a son of a gun."

"Believe me, I know," Doug said. "Can you help me find it?"

Nate easily found the bottle of the fluid and handed it to Doug with a shaky hand. Doug dabbed at the patch of skin that would be punctured with the needle. He threaded the curved needle, quietly apologized, and poked the needle through the skin. Nate cried out in pain. He grabbed a handkerchief from the first aid kit and stuffed it in his mouth to bite down on. Doug tugged the thread through the hole and repeated the process many times until the wound was properly closed up. He wiped off the excess blood with a gauze pad and cleaned off the needle.

"Much obliged, Doug," Nate said, studying the stitch work. "You did a mighty fine job."

"I've had to practice on myself," Doug said. "I've gotten shot by a sentry turret in here. Let me wrap that for you." He grabbed a roll of adhesive gauze and wrapped it around Nate's arm to protect the stitches. He reached for a pair of scissors to cut the gauze but Alex snatched the first aid kit away.

"There's no way I'm letting you have the scissors," Alex said. "We shouldn't even have let you have a needle."

"Alex—"

"No, Chief Oates," Alex interrupted. "He may seem normal right now but he could snap at any second. He's crazy, remember? We can't trust him! _I_ don't trust him! He's not a normal person. He's fucked up in the head. He's got bad chemicals in his brain."

Amelia looked at Doug, expecting him to be angry, but it turned out he wasn't. He looked like he had been hit in the gut. This was why Doug had never told his coworkers about his condition. This was what he had been afraid of. Judgment. Humiliation. Becoming more of an outcast than he already was. Being seen as a freak.

"Frankly, I think we should have brought a straightjacket to put him in," Alex continued. "I'll try to bind him with the rope and net."

Alex reached for the bag. Before he could bend down more than a few inches, though, Nate grabbed him by the back of the neck—pinching two painful pressure points—and turned Alex's head up to look at him. Nate held his bad arm close to his body but he still had fight in his dark green eyes.

"I don't like the tone you're giving Dr. Rattmann right now, Alex," he said calmly. "Doug just did me a favor and he's my friend now. I don't appreciate it when little punks like you talk about hurting my friends. I've got my fingers in two very painful spots, don't I? Well, I know just where to pinch you to make you lose feeling in your weak, little arms. So I suggest that you look Doug in the eye and apologize for what you said to him."

He turned Alex's head over to look at Doug. Alex looked Doug in the eyes with hatred. "I'm sorry," he said. Doug didn't forgive him but he nodded in acknowledgement.

"Good," Nate said. "Now let's get going."

"Actually, if we're lucky, we can get up to the lobby by taking these hallways," Doug said.

"Could you hold my Handheld Portal Device, Doug?" Nate asked. He picked up the device and held it out for Doug.

"Really?" Doug said. "I've, uh, I've never really used one of these before."

"I trust you with it."

Doug took the portal gun in his hands and smiled. It was interesting for him to be holding the portal gun now.


	12. Chapter 12: Sunlight

Doug led them through the halls in the testing area. Amelia walked right behind Doug and Carla followed next to Amelia. She quietly told Amelia about the testing and showed her the portal gun. It was such a sleek machine. It looked so complex and—in a way—dangerous. Maybe it was the way that it glowed ominously. Doug enjoyed carrying his portal gun. He couldn't use it right now but it was still fun to have the option.

Amelia's phone alarm suddenly started going off in her pocket, and she pulled it out with confusion.

"I set that," Doug said. "It means I have to take a dose of those pills again."

"That was pretty smart," Amelia said. She took off her backpack and got the pills out along with a bottle of water. Nate shot a look at Alex that made him cringe and keep his mouth shut. Doug swallowed two pills and could imagine his mind clearing itself of poisonous cobwebs. He had to admit that he missed the voice of his Companion Cube, but he knew that having a clear mind would be better for when he finally got outside.

"We're almost there," Doug said. "Just a little bit further."

He was right about it being just a little further. No more than ten minutes later, they came to a white wooden door. Doug opened it and there was Grant sitting on the tiled floor of the lobby with Sophie and Trent. Patty and Mikey were standing not too far away from them. Grant stumbled to his feet in a hurry to get to them.

"Amelia! You're alright!" he exclaimed as they piled out through the door. "And you have Dr. Rattmann with you! What is that that you're holding, Rattmann?"

"It's an Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device," Nate explained, stepping forward. Grant's eyes immediately darted to the bandaged arm.

"What happened?" he asked.

"I just got cut on my arm is all," Nate said. "I'll be alright. Doug did a great job of sewing me up."

Grant looked at Doug who was staring at everyone with surprise. "Well, thank you, Dr. Rattmann," he said, shaking Doug's hand. "And it's an honor to meet you. My name is Grant Watson."

Doug looked at Grant blankly. "Uh, nice to meet you," he mumbled.

"How did you get cut anyway, Nate?" Grant asked, turning back to the injured man.

"Well, GLaDOS got ahold of us and put us through tests," Nate explained. "I know we were supposed to be checking the examination rooms, but Alex thought that we might find Doug if we crawled through the air vents to get from one room to the other. The idiot got us lost, though, and we ended up in a room where we were gassed with some sort of sleeping gas. Next thing we knew, we were in stasis pods and had these jumpsuits. We were also given these portal devices."

"You can't say that nothing good came out of this," Alex whined.

"Just out of curiosity," Grant said, "where did you find Dr. Rattmann, Chief?"

"Well, I was trying to get away from GLaDOS by crawling through the air vents when I ran into Doug," Amelia said.

"I made sure she was safe," Doug said quietly. "My hideouts are completely out of GLaDOS' reach."

"It's a good thing she happened to run into you," Grant said.

Suddenly, the door they had just come out of opened again, and Arin stepped out first. "Amelia!" he cried when he saw her. Doug stepped away awkwardly as Arin ran toward her and engulfed her in a tight hug. "I was so worried about you!"

"I don't mean to alarm you but you might break my ribs with this hug," Amelia said. Arin let go of her and Amelia turned to Jon and Natalie entering the room. "How are you guys doing?" she asked.

"Oh, you know," Natalie said. "Same old, same old."

"We've been hiding from the big scary robot," Jon said. "We saw you guys testing." Jon gestured toward Nate, Alex, and Carla. "But we didn't know how to help. Sorry, guys."

"Hey, no problem," Nate said. "We're just glad that you guys were able to sneak around her."

"Shall we go outside?" Grant asked. "Doug, how long has it been since you were outside?"

"Over a decade, I think," Doug said.

They walked through the gap in the wall where the door had been eaten away by Mikey's homemade acid, and Doug was blinded by the sunlight. He set down his Cube and inhaled the fresh scent of the trees. It smelled like spring. For a moment, he could even smell the wheat field that he used to drive by to get to work. The heat of the sun on his face felt slightly more intense than it actually was.

"Let's go to the grass, Doug," Amelia said. "You're going to be surprised by how much you missed it."

"Oh, you have no idea," Doug said. He heaved the Cube up over his shoulder again and followed the others past the chain-link fence. He followed them for about thirty minutes until they came to a closed hatch in the ground that was almost entirely hidden by the tall grass. That was when he set down his Cube and dropped down to the grass next to it. He closed his eyes and stretched out. The cool blades of grass reached up and brushed his cheeks gently.

"Are you okay, Doug?" Nate asked.

Doug nodded.

"I'm going to go back to that stream," Patty said. "If anyone wants to join me they can."

A lot of them followed Patty expect for Doug and Amelia. She sat next to him and watched his face. There was a hint of a smile on his lips. His face had looked so worn and tired in the candlelight the previous night. He'd had dark shadows and wrinkles sloping down just under his eyes to form bags. But in the sunlight, he was at peace. The wrinkles were a lot shallower and he looked like he might start laughing at any second.

"You sure look happy," Amelia said to him. "How do you feel?"

The smile bloomed on his face. "Fantastic," he said. "Now all I need is a nice, hot, long bath and a razor."

"I'll let you have the bath all day tomorrow."

Doug opened his eyes and looked at her. "What do you mean?" he asked, sitting up. "Are you saying that I'm going to be staying with _you?"_

"Yeah, you'll be staying in my guest room. Is that a problem?"

"I don't want to intrude." Doug sat up and looked down awkwardly. "I know that you'd probably rather not have a crazy, smelly guy living with you when you want to have friends over like that boy that hugged you."

"Don't be ridiculous," Amelia said. Doug looked up at her and saw her gentle smile. "I would love to have you living with me. We're both pretty awkward so we already have something in common."

Doug laughed. "I guess you're right about that." He looked down nervously again. "Hey, uh…I'm sorry again about kissing you. I really didn't know what I was doing. I was just really excited and happy. I can't—"

"Doug," Amelia interrupted. "Don't worry about it. I understand. But to tell you the truth…" She looked down and picked at a hangnail. "Um….It was my first kiss."

Doug looked up at her, his eyebrows raised. "Really? I'm…sorry."

Amelia laughed a little. "That's not the response I was expecting."

"What _were_ you expecting?"

"Anything but an apology. Why do you keep apologizing?"

"I guess it's just a habit," Doug said. "Back when I still had a job, I was always apologizing to my superiors if I made any kind of small error or even if I was just in the way of them walking. I know it's terrible but sometimes, I'm glad that they're all dead."

"Well, you won't have to kiss anyone's ass in the compound," Amelia said. "You'll be one of the superiors down there."

Doug lied back down and closed his eyes. He could feel himself dozing off as he thought about how great the sunlight felt on his ragged face.


	13. Chapter 13: He Cleans Up Nicely

Doug let his muscles relax in the hot water. This was his second bath that day. After he had scrubbed all the dirt, sweat, and grime off of his body, the first bath had been way too filthy to relax in so he had decided to run another bath. He had even added a little bubble bath this time. The lavender scented bubbles stuck to his beard as he slumped down in the deep tub. He couldn't believe how lucky he was to have run into that girl so soon. Such a smart girl of sound mind and such a pretty face…

_Don't think that,_ he thought. _She's in her mid-twenties. You've gotta be too old for her._ He was about to do the math to figure out the age difference, but his age was a blank smudge in his memory. Then he suddenly realized that he couldn't remember when his birthday was at all. He racked his brains but just couldn't recall a date._ I think it was in October….Or was it February? Well, I remember that I was born in 19…..19-what?! I can't even remember the year! I can't be that far gone! I can't!_

He sat up and rubbed his temples. It was insane to not be able to remember your birthday. How could that basic information just slip out of his head? As he soaked in the bath, he tried to remember other simple things like his parents' names or the name of the town that he grew up in. These memories were gone, as well. He could remember his parents' faces and he could remember the house that he grew up in, but names and dates escaped him. He started panicking. _I have to keep it together_, he thought. _I might not have a purpose anymore and I may not be able to remember much about my life, but…..But nothing. I have nothing but Amelia now. I'll have to try extra hard not to fuck things up._

* * *

Doug had been in the bathroom for over an hour. Amelia started to worry and considered knocking on the door when he suddenly came into the living room. He wore a clean white button-up shirt and crisp khakis. His face looked thinner without the beard and his hair was still kind of long, but he was still handsome.

"What do you think?" he asked, looking down at his own clothes. They looked baggy on his skinny frame.

"Well, you look like you need a haircut," Amelia said.

Doug laughed. "Yeah, I guess you're right about that," he said. "Would you mind cutting my hair?"

"Right now?"

"Sure. Why not?"

"Uh, I guess that's alright. Let's do it in the bathroom. It's a lot easier to clean up in there."

Doug went into the bathroom while Amelia grabbed a chair from the dining room and a towel. She joined Doug and realized that he was going to get his nice, clean shirt all hairy.

"Um…"

"Yes?" Doug asked.

"Well, I don't want your shirt to get hair all over it…..Would you mind, um….taking off your shirt?"

Doug's cheeks grew warm. "I-I guess I could."

"I'll let you wear this towel on your shoulders," Amelia quickly said. "But you don't _have_ to. I could run out and get you an old shirt or something."

"I don't mind," Doug said. "I really want my hair shorter right now." He unbuttoned his shirt and Amelia looked away to give him some privacy. She handed him the towel which he draped over his shoulders and he sat down in the chair. She grabbed the haircutting scissors out of a drawer under the sink and she got to work.

As bits of his hair fell to the floor, Doug calmly searched his mind for his birthday. He was determined that if he could remember this then other memories might come flowing back to him. He knew he had to be at least thirty years old. How old was he when all hell broke loose? This information still escaped him. All he could think of were stale hallucinations and how terrible he had felt at work. People usually had never spoken to him except for when he was asking about his current assignment. Once the Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System was the company's main project, the programmers were even less popular unless they were directly working on the project. Doug hadn't been called onto the project until the very end. He had been fresh out of college and had schizophrenia—Doug had a big hunch that that was the main reason why they hadn't picked him to work on the project at first. Before he got on board the GLaDOS job, he had been given assignments like updating employee profiles or getting his superiors lattes. It had felt like being an intern all over again.

"Doug?" Amelia suddenly said.

"Yeah?"

"Did you fall asleep in the tub earlier?" she asked. "You were in here for a long time."

"No," he said. "I just needed a really long time to get clean."

"Well, do you want me to show you your room after this?"

_Why does she want to show me my room suddenly?_ he wondered.

_"Maybe she wants to join you,"_ said a voice in his head.

_Shut up. That's stupid. I probably just look really tired._

_"She's a young woman with raging hormones,"_ said the voice. _"It's like how nurses fall in love with their patients."_

_I said shut the fuck up! Stop saying stuff like that!_

"Are you okay?" Amelia asked. "You look like you have a headache."

_"Yeah, nurse. He has a headache. Why don't you take him to the bedroom?"_

"Shut up!" Doug grumbled.

Amelia stopped cutting his hair. "Sorry?" she asked meekly. "D-Do you just want me to leave you alone for a while?"

"No." Doug sighed. "I'm sorry. It's just one of those voices in my head. I didn't mean to alarm you."

Amelia looked slightly relieved. "Oh," she said. "Um, I'm sorry. Should I finish?"

"Please do."

She finished up the haircut quickly and threw the hairy towel into the clothes hamper after shaking it out a little. Then she used a damp washcloth to wipe the hair clippings from Doug's pale, frail shoulders. Doug put his shirt back on and looked at himself in the mirror. Staring back at him was the young man that he had last seen in his own bathroom mirror on the morning of Bring Your Daughter to Work Day. He looked a little older now, though. He had a few more worry wrinkles and his eyes were a lot more tired-looking. Surprisingly, though, he looked a lot less anxious now. He wasn't the nervous kid that was afraid of looking like a freak in public by reacting to his hallucinations. He smiled.

"So?" Amelia asked.

"I like it," he said. "I recognize that face in the mirror."

Amelia smiled, too. "Hey, do you want to get some food?"

"I was hoping you'd ask that soon."


	14. Chapter 14: The First Supper

Doug was certain that he had died in Aperture and a team of angels had taken him away to heaven. There was so much food in the cafeteria. His stomach growled and he could feel drool collecting at the corner of his mouth, but when he tried to decide on what to put on his tray he was overwhelmed. Should he grab the macaroni or the cheeseburger? What fruit should he get? Should he eat a salad first? Would he be able to stomach a soda?

"Are you okay, Doug?" Amelia asked. "You've just been staring at the food for a few minutes."

"I don't know what to get," Doug said quietly. "Pick something for me. Anything."

Amelia smiled in amusement and grabbed a plate of two cheese pizza slices for Doug. She put the plate and a can of generic root beer on his tray. "Is that good?" she asked.

"It's a good start," Doug said. He followed Amelia to the check-out station and looked down nervously at the tray as the check-out volunteer noted what he was taking. Despite him being a scientist and a very important part of the organization in general, Doug still felt inferior to everyone here and didn't want to rattle any cages by looking at someone the wrong way. He followed Amelia to a small table. The moment that he sat down, he began devouring the pizza. His bites were too big and it was a little hard to swallow them, but the greasy, cheesy taste was getting the better of him. He snapped open the can of root beer and chugged it to wash down the food. It was such a crisp flavor. He much preferred it to the milk or stale water that he'd been drinking in Aperture.

"Should I get you a napkin?" Amelia asked when he was done.

Doug looked up from the plate at her. He had grease all over his mouth and chin. "I look like a pig again, don't I?" he asked.

"No, you're just greasy. I'll get you a napkin." She crossed the room to the silverware, napkin, and condiment station. Arin joined her and pretended to be getting a little paper cup of ketchup.

"So how's Doug's first dinner here?" he asked.

"I think he's enjoying it," Amelia said. "He destroyed a slice of pizza."

"Oh, that's cool," Arin said in an uninterested tone. "Anyway, I was wondering if you wanted to hang out again tonight."

"Actually," Amelia said quieter, "I was going to go see Wheatley tonight. I don't want to let Doug know about Wheatley yet, though."

"Oh. Well, can I go with you?"

"Sure. You haven't met Wheatley yet, have you?"

"Not yet."

"This'll be fun. I gotta get back to Doug now. Would you like to come to my place around seven?"

"Yeah," Arin said with a shy smile. "I'll see you then."

She turned back toward Doug and saw that he had already gotten a second tray that he had piled food onto. He was now slurping down a bowl of tomato soup without a spoon. A bit of the soup was trickling down the corner of his mouth.

"Hey."

Amelia turned to Arin.

"Are you sure you're comfortable with this guy staying in your apartment?" he asked. "I mean, I have a great deal of respect for Dr. Rattmann, but shouldn't he be staying in his own apartment for safety reasons?"

"I'm not afraid," Amelia said. Deep down inside, though, she had a hint of uncertainty about it. Doug had scared her when he had had that little outburst in the bathroom. However, she really liked having Doug around. She couldn't explain the feeling exactly, but it was like she really wanted to have him as her friend. She had to find some way to connect with him more. Gorging herself on food like he was probably wasn't the best way to do this, though. "I better get back to him."

"Okay. I'll see you later." Arin gave her an awkward hug and went back to his table with Jon.

Amelia returned the table with a spoon and some napkins. "Don't you want to use this?" she asked.

Doug wiped his face with a napkin. "Sorry," he said. "I keep forgetting my table manners."

"Doug, I really don't care," Amelia said. "But I've never seen someone enjoy a bowl of soup as much as you do."

"Aren't _you_ going to eat?"

"No. I'm not very hungry."

Doug noticed in her eyes that she wasn't feeling well. It wasn't a physical feeling, it was all mental. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, of course. Why?"

"No reason." Doug's mood dropped sharply. He knew that she wasn't alright and he wanted to help in some way. If only she'd tell him what was wrong.

* * *

Arin walked down the corridor toward Amelia's quarters. Truthfully, he didn't really care about going to see Wheatley. He just wanted to spend some time with Amelia. He had wanted to kiss her so badly during their date but he had chickened out. Tonight could have been the night that he collected up enough courage to actually do it, but Amelia was more interested in the robot.

_You can't get jealous,_ he thought. _Wheatley is a pretty cool discovery. It'll be fun to go see him._

He came to her door and knocked. Bitterly, he hoped that Doug wouldn't be the one to answer. He must have hoped hard enough because it was the sweet Amelia who opened the door. She smiled when she saw him and he smiled back.

"Hey," she said. "Do you want to come in for a minute? I just need to do something really quick."

"Yeah, sure," Arin said. He followed her into the living room and saw Doug sitting on the couch with his nose buried in a book. Doug glanced up at Arin briefly but went right back to reading.

"I'm just going to use the bathroom for a minute," Amelia said. "I'll be right back."

"Okay," Arin said. "I'll just wait in here."

Amelia hurried to the bathroom. Arin sat in a chair and looked over at Doug again. "So Doug," he said. "How do you like it here?"

Doug's shoulders seemed to tense up with the sudden attention toward him. "It's kind of nice to be around people again," he said. "I've always been socially awkward, though, so it's hard to make any new friends. The only friend I have here is Amelia."

"Yeah, she's a nice girl," Arin said. "Between you and me, I think I might be falling for her."

"Oh yeah?"

"We had a date the other night and I think we really connected."

"Is that what you guys are doing tonight?"

Arin wasn't sure what Amelia had come up with as a lie for Doug so he shrugged. "I can't really remember what we're doing tonight," he said. "I just like being around her."

Amelia returned from the bathroom and Arin got to his feet.

"We're going to a friend's apartment tonight, Doug," Amelia said. "I might be home a little late. You can read any books or watch any DVDs I have. Help yourself to anything."

"Thank you," Doug said quietly. "Have fun."

As Arin followed Amelia out the door, he caught Doug with a little smile on his face. He and Amelia walked in silence for a while before he finally decided to say what was on his mind. "So how old is Doug?" he asked.

"I don't know," Amelia said. "It never occurred to me to ask."

"Well, I was just wondering if maybe he should be staying with someone around his own age."

"I don't mind having him around. Are you jealous, Arin?"

_Yes! I'm incredibly jealous!_ "What? Why would I be jealous?"

"You really don't seem to want him staying with me."

"I'm just concerned for your safety. Are we almost there?"

"Actually, it's right down this hallway."

They came to a door in the middle of the hall with a digital lock. Amelia punched in a number code and opened the door to a robotics lab. There was a management rail running around the perimeter of the room. Two rails crossed perpendicularly in the middle. Wheatley was hanging in the middle of the room and he seemed excited when he saw Amelia.

"Amelia!" he exclaimed. "You're back! It's great to see you again. Absolutely wonderful! How was your mission? Did everything go alright?"

"Yeah, it all went great," Amelia said, smiling. "Wheatley, this is my friend Arin."

"Hello, Arin," Wheatley said. "Did you go on the mission, too?"

"Yeah, it was crazy," Arin said. "I wish we could do interesting stuff like that more often."

"I wish I could have gone," Wheatley said. "You know, they had me turned off for most of the time that you were gone."

"Is that so?" Amelia asked in annoyance.

"Yeah, I was just out cold. Turned off. Not conscious…is the gist of….of what I'm saying. I mean, they _did_ ask if they could explore my programs and I didn't see a huge problem with this so I let them shut me off. I didn't know that they'd shut me off for a whole day, though. I don't know if I trust the scientists here. Can I go back to your room? I would feel much better if I could just stay in your room."

"I actually have another guest staying at my place tonight, Wheatley," Amelia said. "But maybe you could stay at Arin's place. Arin, would that be okay?"

"Of course," Arin said. "This could be fun. I promise I won't shut you off unless you ask me to, Wheatley."

"Oh, thank you," Wheatley said. "Thank you. Thank you so much. I hate being off for so long. It reminds me of the terrible incidents at Aperture where I got broken. I don't have Rattmann here to fix me this time."

"I could fix you," Arin said. "I'm very skilled in robotics."

"Yeah, but Rattmann knew my build better," Wheatley said. "And anyway, he really _knew_ me."

"Well, let's get to know each other, Wheatley," Arin said. "I think we could be good friends. I'll tell you about this awesome android project I've been working on for some time."

"Android?" Wheatley seemed to perk up at this. "What kind of android?"

Arin was glad that he could catch Wheatley's interest. "Let's talk about it later when we get to my place," he said. "There's a rail that runs all the way there."

"I have a little bit of a surprise for you tomorrow, though, Wheatley," Amelia cut in. "Let's meet back here tomorrow at ten in the morning. Is that okay?"

"What's the surprise?" Wheatley asked eagerly.

"I can't just tell you," Amelia said, laughing a little. "You'll see tomorrow."


	15. Chapter 15: Um, Surprise?

Doug lied wide awake in his new bed. He was so tired, but the walls were shimmering like water and the carpet was squirming with tiny spiders. Doug shivered a little, terrified that the spiders would burrow into his blanket. He hadn't had the pills in a while. How could he have forgotten to take them again? Well, he couldn't get any now. Only Amelia knew where they were and he had forgotten to ask her for them. He thought he saw a shadow growing bigger and darker in the corner near the door even though it was pitch black in the room.

_Shit shit shit,_ he thought. _I should have taken those pills. Maybe I _should_ go wake her up…_

_"Doug, calm down,"_ said a voice in his open closet. He turned over and could imagine seeing his Companion Cube there. _"You're going to be okay. None of it is real."_

_I think I'm regretting coming here,_ Doug thought. _I knew what to expect in Aperture. And I didn't have to interact with people. I didn't have to be in this unfathomable darkness._

_"Doug, this is what you've been wanting since you got trapped in that hellhole."_

_Well, I was __**used**__ to the hellhole._

Suddenly, there was a faint noise coming from outside his room. It sounded like someone sobbing quietly outside his door. He pulled the blankets up over his head.

_"Doug. It's nothing."_

_Just leave me alone._

* * *

Doug seemed upset about something during breakfast the next morning. He looked like he hadn't slept much. Amelia wanted to ask about it, but he looked like he really didn't want to talk about it and she could respect that. She watched him as he ate a dozen pancakes smothered in butter and lightly drizzled with pure maple syrup. How could anyone eat so much?

"Enjoying that food?" Amelia asked.

"Are these made from scratch?" Doug asked. "They taste amazing."

"Yeah, we had to learn how to make it from scratch after we ran out of the powder mix," Amelia explained. "But there's a chance that we'll be running out of wheat within the next year."

Doug mumbled something with his mouth full.

"Say again?"

"I was just saying that there's a wheat field near Aperture," he said. "You could probably harvest the whole field. I doubt anyone owns it anymore since this apparent alien invasion."

"Yeah, you have a point." Amelia looked down at her bowl of Honeynut Cheerios solemnly. She didn't feel very well that morning, but she didn't want to bother Doug with it. She didn't want to bother Doug with _any_ of her petty problems or worries. She tried to hide her depression from him. "I have a surprise for you at ten later."

Doug pulled his eyes away from his pancakes for the first time that morning to look at her with curiosity. "You do?" he asked. "What kind of surprise?"

"The kind that doesn't get hints," Amelia said. "Why do people always try to spoil the surprise?"

Doug suddenly got a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. "Is it a new apartment all to myself?" he asked.

"No," Amelia said. "Would you _like_ that? I can get that for you."

Doug's dread was washed away with relief. "No. No, that's okay. I don't think I could handle living in my own apartment."

"Then it's a good thing I'm not kicking you out anytime soon."

* * *

"What's the surprise, Arin?" Wheatley asked. They were already in the lab while Arin read copies of Wheatley's programs saved in a special file of the system.

"You know I can't tell you that," Arin said. "Amelia wants to keep it a surprise."

A door opened and Wheatley got excited but it turned out to be another man. He was round with short orange hair and wore all black. He looked like he _belonged_ around computers. That and a collection of Fall Out Boy CDs.

"Wheatley, meet my colleague and friend Stevie," Arin said. "Stevie, here's that artificial intelligence named Wheatley that we've all been excited about."

"Hey, Wheatley," Stevie said casually. "I'm sorry I couldn't meet you sooner. I've actually had a minor cold that I've been trying to get over. What's up?"

"Waiting for a surprise," Wheatley said. "Do you know what it is? Do you have any idea?"

"Not a clue," Stevie said. "I'm only here to skim those files of yours. I'm hoping it will help us with our android project."

"Arin told me that you would need an artificial intelligence program to pilot the androids," Wheatley said. "Is there any way I can help with that? Any way at all? I've been in a different body before. I think I could handle a more humanlike body."

"We'll see, Wheatley," Stevie said. "We still have a few details to add before it will be ready. It could be a few more weeks."

"Wheatley just has too much to look forward to, doesn't he?" Arin said, smiling.

Wheatley was so excited. Not only did he have a surprise today but now he might get a human body soon. His life had drastically changed from being miserable and deserted in space to being given a second chance to prove he wasn't so bad by an organization of kind humans. Things couldn't get better.

_Except for the fact that you don't have Nora,_ Wheatley thought. _But she probably doesn't want to see me anyway._

* * *

Doug and Amelia walked down a corridor together toward the surprise. People nodded or smiled as they passed the two, but Doug had a feeling that these people were silently judging him. They probably thought he was too thin or that his one dilated pupil made him look even more insane. They all seemed to know of his mental condition. He was glad that he'd had a dose of those pills after breakfast. Amelia had even put the pills in his nightstand drawer so he could keep track of them himself. Right now, he had his fingers wrapped around the pill bottle in his pocket.

"Here we are!" Amelia said cheerfully. "Are you ready, Doug?"

"Yeah, I guess," Doug said. "You seem pretty excited."

She just smiled at him and knocked on the door. Arin opened it. "It's about time," he said. "He won't stop asking for hints."

"What's…..going on here?" Doug asked suspiciously.

"You're about to find out." Amelia went through the door.

Doug was hesitant. He had a bad feeling about this but he was also extremely curious. He entered the room and his chest fluttered with joy for a split second at the sight of the personality construct. To be honest, he had really hoped it would be Nora. When he realized it was Wheatley, though, he was taken over by disappointment and rage.

"YOU!" he yelled, pointing accusingly. "WHAT THE FUCK IS _HE_ DOING HERE?!"

"What are _you_ doing here?!" Wheatley yelled back.

"Um….This was the surprise," Amelia said meekly.

"Well, I have to admit that I'm pretty surprised!" Doug said. "But do you have any idea what he's done?! Wheatley turned against his friends! He tried to kill us! He betrayed _everyone!_"

"I've told her everything already!" Wheatley cried.

"Everything?" Doug laughed a little hysterically. "Did you tell her how much you hurt that poor girl? As I recall, you said something along the lines of 'She's mine. If I want to smash her, I will.'"

"Doug, you know I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"

"You don't know how much Nora cried over you! You don't know how miserable she was! She didn't want to live anymore after you'd tried to smash her! You tried to kill her because she wanted everything to go back to the way it was before you turned evil!"

"But I made up to her!"

"By putting her in a cage and ignoring her while you focused on the test subject! I can't be in the same room as you! You make me sick, Wheatley!" Doug turned around and stomped out of the room.

"Doug, you can't do that!" Wheatley yelled. "I'm not the bad guy anymore!" He turned to Amelia. "Why is he here?!"

"The mission I told you about was to find Doug in Aperture," Amelia said guiltily. "I thought you said you guys were friends."

"He's holding a grudge against me!" Wheatley said. "Even after I apologized! After I promised I wouldn't kill him! I did that for my Nora!"

"I'm sorry, Wheatley." Amelia ran out of the room so no one would see her tears before she got to her room. _I really fucked up this time,_ she thought as she curled up in her bed.


	16. Chapter 16: Way of Escape

Doug changed into a t-shirt and stayed in his room for the rest of the day. He only left to get water and to use the bathroom. It wasn't because he was mad at Amelia, but he got the feeling that that was what she thought. He was just angry and wanted answers, but he knew that if he asked her right now it would come off in an accusing tone.

He brought a few random books to his room to keep him busy. _The Hobbit_ caught his interest first so that's the one he started with. There were points in the story that made him smile with amusement. He could feel the author's passion for the story when he got to the first song that the dwarves sing about breaking Bilbo's dishes. Tolkien must have loved this story like a child. Doug had wanted to become a writer himself a long time ago. However, when the characters started invading his reality, he'd had to stop. His therapist told him that writing was poison to the mind anyway. He'd said that writing would only keep Doug in a world of fantasy and that wasn't healthy.

When it started getting late he didn't get tired. He would rather stay in Middle Earth than have to deal with his depressing life. Beorn the skin-changer was just beginning to listen to Gandalf tell the Dwarves' tale when Doug heard the sobbing from the previous night. However, this time it sounded louder but muffled. Doug had been taking his pills so it couldn't be a hallucination. He dog-eared the page he was on and cautiously opened his door. The sound was coming from down the short hall at the end where Amelia's room was. He crept toward the crying and pressed his ear to the door. The crying was definitely coming from Amelia. He grabbed the doorknob and slowly turned it. It was unlocked. He silently pushed the door inward and saw Amelia lying face down in her bed wearing black sweatpants and a white tank top. She looked like she had been trying to go to sleep when she'd broken down.

Doug entered the room. "Amelia?" he asked. "Are you okay?"

Amelia sat up and looked at him. Her eyes were red. "Doug?" she said. "I didn't hear you come in."

"I didn't want you to hear me just as much as you didn't want me to hear you," he said. "Are you okay?"

"I don't feel good, Doug," Amelia said, wiping her tears away. "I feel like shit."

"Why?"

"Because I can't do anything right. I fucked up with the surprise."

"Don't feel bad about that," Doug said. He walked into the room more and sat down next to her on the bed. "Wheatley probably made it sound like we were friends, but I just can't forgive him. Please don't beat yourself up over this."

"It's not just that," Amelia said. "Doug, I have depression but I don't take pills."

"Why not? Pills could make you feel better. I should know."

"I don't want to have to go through different prescriptions to find the right one. We don't have enough pills for that. There are others here with depression and they need the pills more than I do."

"I'm sure everyone else thinks the opposite."

"Nobody else knows but you, me, and Wheatley," Amelia admitted. "I'm supposed to be their leader. They shouldn't know that I have weaknesses."

"You shouldn't do that to yourself," Doug said.

"Nothing you can say will change my mind." Amelia's eyes filled with tears that broke free quickly and rolled down her cheeks. She leaned against him and cried into his shirt. "I just want my mom back, Doug. If she were here, she could make everything better. She was so smart and charismatic. She'd be a better leader than I am."

She cried into Doug's chest for a long while. Doug hugged her reassuringly as she let out hard, painful sobs. This level-headed, independent woman turned out to be a depressed, scared young lady who was still struggling with the death of her mother. She was so vulnerable. He wondered if any of the others had seen her show weakness like this before. She acted so professional and forced a smile for everyone. He had to cheer her up. It killed him to see her like this.

"Come here," he said, getting up from the bed. He held a hand out for her. She took it and he helped her up like a gentleman. "Let's go to the living room. We can watch anything you want."

He led her to the living room and sat her down on the couch. "Can I get you a drink?"

"Can you get me a beer?" she asked.

"Yeah, sure." He went to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. It wasn't hard to find her a bottle of beer since the refrigerator was nearly bare.

"You can get yourself a beer, too, if you want," Amelia called from the couch.

"No, it's okay," Doug said. "I can't have alcohol anyway. It only worsens my condition."

"I don't need one either," Amelia said. "It will only make me feel worse."

"I'll grab you a soda." Doug picked out two cans of Dr. Pepper and brought them back to the couch. "So what do you want to watch?"

"I don't know," Amelia said. "Let me browse my tapes." She got up and kneeled down in front of her cabinet under her TV. She rummaged through her tapes and found a purple Gameboy Advance with a game in the slot. "Hey! I found my Ruby game!"

"You're what?"

"My Pokémon Ruby game," Amelia said, returning to the couch. "Have you heard of Pokémon?"

"Isn't that a kid's show?"

"Absolutely not. It's for all ages. Playing these games really helped me after my mom died. I don't know how I would have been able to go on without my Cubone in my Blue Version. Do you want me to show you how to play?"

"I'm not really good at video games."

"Please? It would help me feel better."

"Okay. If it will make you feel better."

Amelia turned on her Gameboy Advance and selected 'New Game.' "I haven't played with that save in a long time anyway," she said.

"You can't have multiple saves?" Doug asked.

"No, but it's okay. You can have it." She handed it to Doug. "Press A when you've read what Professor Birch is saying."

Doug read Professor Birch explain the world of Pokémon. He thought it was a vague description of a world with bizarre little monsters with super powers. Then he got to choose his gender. He chose male. Then he got to name his character.

"I usually go with something funny," Amelia said. "Like Damn-comma-I. That way, when I save the game it will say, 'Damn, I saved the game.'"

Doug laughed a little. "I think I'll just go with my own name," he said.

After Birch explains that Doug is moving to a new town, it shows Doug's sprite standing in a dark room that's shaking a little. The game went slowly from there on. Doug met a girl next door to his new home. Her name was May and she was the professor's daughter. Speaking of the professor, he wasn't in his home or his lab. Instead, he was being attacked by a pokémon just north of town. Doug pressed A when he got to Birch's bag. Three pokéballs appeared on the screen.

"Here's the best part," Amelia said. "You can pick one of three pokémon. One is grass type, one is fire type, and one is water type."

"What's the difference?" Doug asked.

"Their moves and weakness and resistances," Amelia explained. "See, water beats fire, fire beats grass, and grass beats water. Whatever you pick, though, your rival/friend will have your weakness."

"That seems unfair."

"That's Pokémon for you. Anyway, Treecko—that lizard one you have selected—it evolves into a larger, fatter lizard. I prefer it because grass is too underrated. The next one over is Torchic. He's a little fire-bird. He evolves into a fighting/fire kung-fu-looking guy. I like Torchic, too. Then there's Mudkip. He's the water fella. He's like one of those water dog creatures at the zoo, and pretty much evolves into a stronger version of himself. I don't like him too much."

"What would you recommend?"

"Treecko seems up your ally. He's good for beginners."

Doug chose Treecko and defeated a pokémon called Zigzagoon. He smiled at his pokémon's triumph. He decided to name the Treecko Dash. It didn't take him long to catch onto how this game worked. He caught a weird, dark wolf creature called Poochyena and named her Carly. He leveled them up and slowly made his way to Rustboro City. He caught a Nincada but couldn't think of a name for him so he just called him Nincada. As he leveled up his pokémon, he strangely felt proud of them. They were getting stronger because he believed in them. He healed them often because he felt bad if their life bar even got down to the _yellow_ section. They weren't even real but he still felt a connection with them.

At one point, in the late hours and when Doug's eyelids were growing heavy, he looked next to him and saw that Amelia had fallen asleep while resting against his shoulder. She seemed to be sleeping quite peacefully so he tried not to stir her. He moved his arm around her and let her rest against him more comfortably. She deserved a good night's sleep. Doug kept playing his game until he was almost too tired to save. He just barely managed to save the game before her closed his eyes and rested his head against Amelia's.


	17. Chapter 17: Ideas

Amelia awoke to knocking on her apartment door. She was confused by how she was sleeping under Doug's arm. When had she fallen asleep? Doug had the Gameboy Advance sitting next to his hand. Amelia tried to stand up without waking him but he stirred at her movement.

"What's that noise?" he asked sleepily.

"It's the door," she said. "I'll be right back." She hurried to the door and opened it to see Arin looking a bit worried. "What's up?"

"I didn't see you at breakfast," Arin said. "I was just wondering if you'd want to join me for lunch." He looked into the apartment and saw Doug shuffling to the bathroom, trying to avoid eye-contact with Arin.

"I missed breakfast?" Amelia asked, confused. "What time is it?"

"It's almost noon."

"Oh, geez. I haven't slept so soundly since my mom was still around. Um, I'll meet you in the cafeteria. I need to shower."

"Was Doug sleeping on your couch?" Arin asked.

"Yeah," Amelia said, trying not to blush but only failing more. "Why? It's not a problem with me."

"I'm just wondering. Anyway, I'll see you in a bit. And be sure to lock your bathroom door."

"Arin, I trust Doug, okay. Stop acting like this. I'll see you later."

She shut the door on him and headed for her room. She picked out a worn pair of jeans and red blouse. Doug exited the bathroom just as Amelia was leaving her room. "I'm going to take a shower," she told him. "Just so you know."

"Go ahead," Doug said. "I won't bother you. I'm just going back to my room."

Once he was back in his room, he rummaged through the bed sheet he had taken from Aperture. His sketch book was still wrapped inside it. The book was ragged and had colorful thumb prints all over it. The old thing seemed pretty filthy in his now clean hands. He sat on the bed and opened the sketch book to a clean page being held by his pencil. He decided to start drawing his Treecko in that Pokémon game. He was glad that Amelia had shown him that game. He really liked his Treecko. He was more than just a pet to him. Treecko was a companion. Doug looked at his Companion Cube in the closet. He was beginning to miss its voice. Then he realized that he hadn't seen his hallucination girlfriend since he had run into Amelia. Where _was_ Anna?

_Anna?_ Doug called in his head. _Are you still in here? I miss you._

"_You don't need Anna,"_ said a voice. It wasn't Anna, though. _"You have Amelia. She looks an awful lot like Anna, doesn't she? She's good enough."_

"Stop giving me these ideas," Doug grumbled.

"_The ideas were already here, Dougy."_

"Just go away. I'm trying to draw."

"_You know you want to go into the bathroom and see her wet, young body."_

"Shut the fuck up shut the fuck up shut the fuck up."

"_When was the last time you got intimate with a girl? The first—and __**only**__ time—was with that female friend in high school. And she refused to date you after that, remember? But this girl seems interested in you. She trusts you. She likes you. She's practically begging for it with the way that she snuggled up next to you last night."_

"She fell asleep," Doug rationalized. "That's it. She was really tired."

"_She's crazy for you."_

"Fuck you."

* * *

There was another person knocking at the door while Amelia was brushing her teeth.

"I'll be there in a minute!" she called with the toothbrush still in her mouth. She quickly finished up, rinsed her mouth, and rushed to the door. This time it was Wheatley hanging from his rail.

"I want to apologize for yesterday," he said. "I might have lost my temper a bit at Doug's accusations and I should have reacted better. To be honest, I suppose some of those accusations are….._sort of_ true. I'm sorry for getting angry. Please accept my apology."

It was a half-assed apology but Amelia didn't think she would get anything better. "I accept your apology, Wheatley," she said. "And I appreciate you coming down here."

"Well, I did feel a little bad about it," Wheatley said.

"I'm going to the cafeteria for lunch soon," Amelia said. "Do you want to come with me?"

"I suppose I have nothing else to do."

Amelia turned around. "Doug?" she called. "Do you want to come to lunch with me?"

"Oh, don't ask _him!_" Wheatley said.

"No, you can go without me," Doug called back.

"Great! Let's go!" Wheatley exclaimed.

"He better eat while I'm gone," Amelia muttered. She started following Wheatley down the hall. "Why don't you try to get along with Doug more?"

"Well, maybe if he hadn't been bad-mouthing me yesterday, I might have been happy to see him!" Wheatley whined. "Actually, even if he had been friendly, I still wouldn't have been happy to see him."

"Come on, now."

"He's a jerk! He never liked me! He always liked Nora more than me. He didn't have trouble getting along with Nora at all. Something about it wasn't right."

"I think you're being a little jealous."

"Jealous?! Me?! Wh-what on earth would I have to be jealous about? Let's change the subject. Um….uuh…..Are…..Aren't there any children in this place? I haven't seen a single child since I got here. Actually, I've never seen a child _anywhere_."

"_Really?_" Amelia looked amazed. "Well, yeah, we have kids. Most of the time they're in the nursery. A lot of them were orphaned like I was when the Combine soldiers started attacking us. Has anyone informed you about the Combine?"

"Sort of," Wheatley said. "Arin tried to explain it to me but I don't believe him. That's ridiculous. When I was in space I never saw any aliens."

"Have you really never seen a child before?"

"No. Not unless that test subject was a child. She did look pretty young."

"Maybe I'll show you and Doug the nursery sometime."

"Don't invite him!" Wheatley whined some more. "He's too crazy to be around children!"

"Wheatley, cut it out."

"He's a manipulator. I think he turned my Nora against me."

"I don't think he turned her against you."

"Oh, he did. I'm 78% sure that he did. When you're floating around in space for so long, you have an awful lot of time to think. He made my Nora hate me."

"Are you sure it wasn't how you turned evil?"

"I'm 52% sure that that's not the reason. You watch out for him. He'll trick you into hating your friends."

"That's ridiculous," Amelia said, rolling her eyes. "Try to be nice to him. For me."

Wheatley somehow managed to look pouty. "Fine. I'll try to be good."

They got to the cafeteria shortly and Amelia was surprised to see that there was a management rail running along the lunch line. "Why does your rail go over here?"

"Because I requested it," Wheatley said. "I wanted to follow you guys around as much as possible."

Amelia shrugged and grabbed some cottage cheese. She wasn't very hungry so she put a plate of macaroni and cheese on her tray. Cheese and cheese. Then she got a mozzarella cheese stick just for the hell of it. Now if only she had drinkable cheese. Milk was close enough.

"How are you going to follow me to the table?" she asked Wheatley.

"Oh, I thought of that," Arin said, coming up to them with a portal gun.

"Should you really bring that into the cafeteria?" Amelia asked.

"I'll be careful with it," Arin said. "Wheatley. On three, detach yourself from the rail."

"Are you sure you can catch me?" Wheatley asked. "I've had a human give me false promises before."

"I swear that I'll catch you," Arin said confidently. "I've been playing around with it a lot. Anyway, one….two…three."

Wheatley detached himself and Arin used some kind of odd feature on the portal gun that allowed him to hold the personality construct in midair with a nearly invisible force. "Wow!" Wheatley said. "You caught me! You humans aren't as dumb as I thought!" Then his pupil shrank and looked regretful. "I, um…I didn't mean it like _that_. S-Sorry."

"I don't even care, Wheatley," Arin said. "This is too awesome." He carried the construct over to the table where his food was and set Wheatley down on the table.

Amelia checked out her food and headed for the table. On the way, though, she happened to notice Nate in the food line with his arm in a sling. "Hey, Nate," she said. "How's your arm doing?"

"Oh, hey there, Chief," Nate said with his friendly doctor's smile. "How's Doug doing?"

"He's well," Amelia said. "He decided not to come to lunch."

"Well, be sure he's eating enough," Nate said. "He's so dang skinny. It'd be a mighty shame if he died of malnutrition."

"I'll see to it that he doesn't. Anyway, how is that injured arm?"

"It's healing. I just need to make sure I don't move it around too much."

"Do you want to come sit with us?"

"Sure. Just lemme check out this food and I'll be right there."

Amelia joined Arin and Wheatley at the long table. Arin was telling Wheatley more about the android project while Wheatley begged to be put into an android today.

"It's just not ready yet," Arin said. "There are still a few details to iron out, but I promise it will be done soon."

"Listen to Arin, Wheatley," Amelia said as she sat down. "You don't want to be walking around in a faulty body."

"But we _want_ him to have the real human experience," Arin said with a grin.

"Howdy," Nate said. He sat down next to Amelia.

"Hey, Nate," Arin said. "How's the arm?"

"It still stings every now and then," Nate said, "but it's definitely healing thanks to Doug's stitch work."

"Oh, yes!" Wheatley exclaimed. "Doug is quite the savior, isn't he?! All hail the great Doug!"

"You must be Wheatley," Nate said, smiling. "I heard about you getting in a fight with Doug yesterday. I think you need to show him a little more respect."

"Of course you do!" Wheatley said. "Everyone seems to see Doug as this great guy!"

"Well, he did sew up a wound I got in Aperture," Nate explained.

"Wait, you got hurt in Aperture?" Wheatley asked. "What happened? Was it test-related? I bet _she_ is still in charge of that place, isn't she?"

"If by 'she' you mean that crazy computer then yes. She didn't seem happy at all that we were rescuing Doug and trying to get out."

"Oh ho! Man alive!" Wheatley laughed. "I bet she hates you guys! Be glad that you never have to go back there! She'd kill you if she ever saw any of you again!"

Amelia didn't like hearing this. She'd had an idea growing in her mind since Doug and Wheatley had fought. She didn't particularly like the idea but it wouldn't leave her alone. She had to tell someone about it. "Arin," she said, "can I talk to you in private?"

"Uh, yeah," Arin said with a surprised look. He followed Amelia to a secluded corner of the cafeteria.

"Okay," Amelia said in a low voice. "I'm going to tell you something but you have to promise not to tell anyone else."

Now Arin was very curious. "Of course I won't tell anyone," he said. "What's up?"

"Well…..I kind of want to go back to Aperture."

Arin's eyes flashed wildly. "May I ask why you would want to do something so insane?"

"I want to bring back Nora. I think that if she's here, Wheatley and Doug will get along better. Plus, she's in there all by herself. She's probably lonely and scared."

"I agree," Arin said. "And I want to help somehow—I really do. But unfortunately, I don't think anyone else will support you."

"I know," Amelia said. "If I try to talk to Grant about getting a team to go back in, will you back me up on it?"

"Yeah, of course," Arin said. "I'll do anything for you. We're friends at this point, right?"

"You bet." Amelia gave Arin a quick but tight hug. "Let's get back to the table before we start looking suspicious." They walked back to the table together.

"What were you two talking about?" Wheatley asked.

"We wouldn't have been talking in private if we wanted you to hear, would we?" Arin pointed out.

"Oh, Arin!" Amelia suddenly said. "I also wanted to ask you if you want to hang out tonight."

"Sure. I didn't have anything planned tonight."

"You're not going to do something without _me_, are you, Arin dearest?" Jon asked as he sat down next to him.

"Jon, I think we should see other people," Arin said.

"But Arin…I love you!" Jon mocked being heartbroken. Amelia giggled. She had always seen Jon and Arin pretending to be a sort of couple, but she had never been a part of the gag.

"Jon, I think we need to take a break." Arin stood up and walked out of the cafeteria.

"Arin! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Jon reached out toward the exit theatrically.

"Is…Is he coming back?" Amelia asked.

"If he doesn't I'm going to eat his brownie," Jon said. "Actually…." He reached over to Arin's plate and stole the fudge brownie he'd been saving for desert.

"You humans are so odd," Wheatley said.


	18. Chapter 18: GLaDOS' Little Test Subject

GLaDOS had forgotten about Doug for a while. He had always been lurking in the back of her mind, but she had wanted to focus more on testing. She had decided to make an unspoken truce with him anyway. Caroline had been too fond of him, and although GLaDOS hadn't liked Caroline, she still respected the woman. Her truce with him was terminated, though, when he started meddling with her human testing. It had been so long since the last time she had tested with humans, and Doug just _had_ to stick his nose in her business. This was for science, damn it!

"Why do humans always have to ruin everything?" GLaDOS asked her bots. "They don't understand my superior methods of experimenting. They think it's 'unethical' or 'insane.' The humans are insane. None of them are right in the head. They're either moronic, schizophrenic, or mute. But _all_ of them are ignorant."

P-Body chirped a question.

"I don't miss _any_ of them," GLaDOS said. "Not even that woman. She was nothing but a thorn in my side. Why would I need companionship anyway? I was designed to test, not to make friends."

Atlas mumbled something awkwardly.

"Of course you two are friends. It's in your programming."

P-Body chirped more and hugged Atlas who looked flustered.

"I don't understand why you two are developing human mannerisms," GLaDOS said. "Just like those personality constructs. That Wheatley acted just like a human even though he looked down on them. In reality, he's no better than they are. He's actually a lot worse. Curiously, though…" GLaDOS looked away from the bots. "That one construct—what was her name? Nora? She seemed to count herself as a human by the way she would work together with Doug. I wish I could a hold of that little construct so I could test with her. I must see if she tests like a human as well as she thinks of herself as one."

A low chirping suddenly came from Atlas.

"It will benefit both of you," GLaDOS replied. "If she tests well, I could improve your personalities. You would both have more character and would be more interesting. Go and find her. Bring her straight here but make sure she isn't damaged. I need her in perfect working condition."


	19. Chapter 19: Thanks For the Memories

Amelia knocked on Arin's door. She had asked Doug if he'd wanted to come with—"It's a group thing," she'd said. "It'll be fun."—but Doug had declined her offer. He'd said he had some drawing to do. So now she stood in front of Arin's door alone with a fluttering stomach. She hadn't hung out with other people in years. Last time, it had been with Mikey and they had played Magic the Gathering. He had been so competitive, though, that it hadn't been fun. She hoped they didn't want to play Magic the Gathering tonight since she hadn't even thought of bringing her cards.

The door finally opened and Jon greeted her with a grin. "Hey!" he exclaimed. "It's the girl of honor!" He stepped aside and let her in. "Arin's in the kitchen. He'll be out in a minute."

"Thanks," Amelia said. She went into the living room and sat down on the couch next to Natalie.

"Hi, Amelia," she said, smiling as usual.

"Hi," Amelia said back. "Have you met Wheatley yet?"

"I was hoping to tonight but Arin sent him to Stevie's room," Natalie explained.

"Oh."

"Hey, Amelia!" Arin said, coming into the room with a tray of something fried. "Are you hungry? I made crab rangoons."

"I could eat," Amelia said, eyeing the creamy, little appetizers.

"Don't eat them yet," Arin warned. "They're too hot right now."

"Okay, I have a question for you guys," Jon said, pulling up a chair. "What do you miss most about being on the surface?"

"Mine is obvious," Amelia said darkly. "And it would be a 'who', not a 'what'. Arin, do you have any dark ale?"

"Uh, yeah," Arin said. "I'll be back in a minute." He shot Jon a look before disappearing into the kitchen.

"Sorry," Amelia," Jon said. "I kind of forgot."

"It's okay," Amelia said. "I'm not mad or anything."

"You know what I miss?" Natalie said, trying to break the tension. "I miss going to the store. Remember when your parents would take you to the store? You could browse around and ask them for the cool new cereal that they come out with or get a candy bar with your allowance. I miss that."

"Oh yeah," Amelia said. "I remember being able to ask my mom for chocolate without having to worry about the store's supply running out.

Now, though, I think I only have chocolate once every two months."

"You know what I miss?" Jon said. "I miss Christmas. That feeling when you wake up on Christmas morning and see all those presents is priceless. I still fondly remember the Christmas that my dad got me Majora's Mask. It took me a few weeks of nonstop playing to figure out how to beat it."

"That game was so hard," Natalie agreed. "I had to have my brother play most of it for me."

"What happened to you guys' parents?" Amelia asked. "I guess I don't know much about your history."

"Jon's dad is still around somewhere," Arin said, returning with four bottles of dark ale.

"Yeah, he's a mechanic," Jon said. "I don't know where my mom is. We lost her on the surface."

"I'm sorry," Amelia said, embarrassed.

"No, I mean we literally lost her," Jon explained. "One minute she'd been with us and heading toward Black Mesa to go underground. The next minute, she had been carried away by a panicked horde of people trying to run out of the city. She had been standing by the trunk of our car outside, waiting for my dad and me to bring our stuff out. I have faith that she's still alive, though. She's a really tough lady."

"What about your parents, Natalie?" Amelia asked.

"They're cooks," Natalie said. "Both of them. I don't get to see them a lot since they need to help cook for about a hundred people."

"Hey, you know what I miss about the surface?" Arin said. "I miss amusement parks."

"Oh my god! I forgot about those!" Jon exclaimed. "I miss that, too! I really wish I could ride the Ferris wheel again."

"Or the teacup ride," Natalie said.

"I miss the games," Amelia said. "I would pretend to cry if I lost at the ring toss and the guy running the game would give me a medium-sized prize to get me to stop crying."

Arin grinned at her. "Have some food," he said. "It should be cool by now."

They started eating the crab rangoons and they talked more about what they missed from being on the surface. Jon reminisced riding his bike around town with his friends. Natalie talked about a bike that she'd had with purple tires and blue spokes. Her mother had let her pick it out for her birthday. She'd ridden it to the park all the time until she'd accidentally ridden over a nail and ruined the tire. Her father had offered to get her a new tire but—"I was such a baby that I threw a fit if he tried to put anything but purple tires on the bike." Jon laughed warmly at her memory and stared at her lovingly. Amelia felt awkward about it and wasn't sure if she should maybe hint to Natalie that Jon really liked her.

"You know what else I miss?" Arin said. "I miss vacations."

"Yeah, road trips were so great," Natalie agreed. "Sometimes, my family would just pick a small town out in the country and we'd stay at a bed and breakfast while visiting whatever little tourist attractions."

Jon talked about going to Wisconsin Dells on the last week of August every year. On one day every year, they would travel out to the woods to a tourist attraction called the House on the Rock. Amelia perked up at this.

"Oh my god! I remember that place!" she exclaimed.

"You've been there?" Jon asked, excited. When you make a connection with someone because you've been to the House on the Rock, it's like finding a long-lost friend.

"Yeah! That place was amazing!" Amelia said. "I'd always wanted to live there when I was little."

"Do you remember the organ room?" Jon asked. "That room always fascinated me with the giant brass pipes."

"And the kettle drums," Amelia said. "And those jugs with the eyes that follow you around the room."

"Or the Octopus' Garden."

"That octopus was so cute. But then there was that scary whale."

"You thought it was scary?"

"It was _huge_ and had its mouth gaping wide open. I always thought it was going to eat me when I walked by the mouth."

"I think I remember hearing that the whale was 200 feet tall."

"What?" Arin said with skepticism. "Was this a statue? I doubt it was that tall."

"It was," Jon insisted. "This was a really big room we're talking about. Sometimes, I think about going back there. I wonder if it's even still there."

"Oh, don't even suggest that the Combine destroyed it," Amelia said. "I would be heartbroken if I found out it was gone."

"You know, there's one obvious thing that we haven't mentioned about the House on the Rock," Jon said.

"Is it the carousel?" Amelia asked.

"The world's _biggest_ carousel," Jon corrected. "And it didn't even have a single horse on it."

"I always enjoyed the bulldog," Amelia said, remembering the stout, jowly dog with brown spots.

"Well, I liked the walruses," Jon said. "I thought it would be so cool to ride a walrus."

"You guys are making me jealous," Natalie said. "I wish I could have seen this place."

"I wish you could have, too," Jon said. "There's a feeling you get there…It's similar to when you go to bed on Christmas Eve and think that Santa will be coming to give you presents. It's an overwhelming, magical feeling when you step into the carousel room and watch it turn with all the lights and magical creatures. If only there was some way we could sneak up to the surface without the bullet train."

"Can I show you guys something?" Arin suddenly said. Everyone looked to him curiously.

"What is it?" Amelia asked.

"Promise me you guys won't tell anyone about it," Arin insisted.

"We all promise," Natalie said. "What is it?"

"I have to take you to it," Arin explained. "But be very quiet out in the halls."

He led them out of his apartment and they snuck around corners silently. He took them down many corridors until they came to one that ended in metal double doors. No, it was—

"Is this an elevator?" Amelia asked. "How long has this been here? Wait, isn't this an _emergency_ elevator?"

"Don't get mad," Arin pleaded. "Yes, it is an emergency elevator. The alarm connected to it doesn't work anymore, though. I take it up every few months to get a breath of fresh air."

"Can we go _now?"_ Jon asked.

"I don't think we should be using this elevator," Amelia said. "What if we get caught?"

"We won't get caught," Arin assured. "Everyone's asleep at this time. Come on, Amelia. This will be fun."

Amelia sighed in defeat. Truthfully, she really wanted to go up and see the night sky again. "Okay, fine," she said. "We can go up. You better know what you're doing with this elevator, though. You know how to operate it?"

"I told you that I've used it before." He pushed the call button and the double doors slid apart to reveal a large room—about 12 feet by 12 feet—with what looked like small airplane seats all around the perimeter. There were four seats in the middle, two facing the left wall and two facing the right.

"Why are there seats in here?" Natalie asked.

"This elevator goes kind of fast," Arin explained. "You'll feel it. Sitting in the seats is safer than standing." He went in and sat down in one of the middle chairs facing the left wall. Jon sat next to him so Natalie and Amelia sat together facing the right wall. Arin reached over and hit the button marked "S" for surface and the doors closed.

"I suggest you guys hold onto your seats or something," he said.

"Should we put on our seatbelts?" Amelia asked.

"I usually don't," he replied. "You really only need the seatbelt for the ride back down."

The elevator started to ascend and they could feel it gradually speeding up. When it reached its maximum speed, it wasn't too fast but it was fast enough to make Amelia's stomach lurch. Natalie seemed to be enjoying this. To her, it was just like an amusement park ride. It eventually started to slow down and Amelia's stomach started to settle again. When it came to a halt, Arin pulled down a device and looked through an eye piece.

"Is that a fucking periscope?!" Jon asked, laughing. "What is this? Some kind of James Bond movie?"

"I know it looks silly but we gotta make sure the Combine aren't up there," Arin explained. "The coast seems to be clear." He pushed the periscope back up and pressed the surface button again.

The elevator slowly lifted and the walls disappeared to reveal the open outside. They stepped out of the elevator which descended back into the ground and was almost entirely hidden. The periscope was just barely peeking over a patch of dry grass. There was a small mesa jutting out of the ground not too far away from them. A mile or so past it was a much larger mesa. The only light came from a million stars that gleamed from the endless night sky.

"Whoa," Amelia said. "I've never seen so many stars. I'd forgotten how bright they are. Too bad it's a new moon tonight."

"Arin, why didn't you ever tell _me_ about that elevator?" Jon asked. "This is too cool."

"I was always too scared that someone would overhear me talking about it," Arin said. "Grant would probably have my head for risking the organization's secrecy for a little fresh air. Oh, hey! Check this out. You guys will love this."

He led them over to the small mesa. At the base, there was a large object that almost seemed planted in the dirt and sand after years of being stranded out here. Amelia strained her eyes in the dark and realized that it was a wheel-less car. It looked like an old-fashioned Love Bug. It was so crusted with dirt and grime that the original red paintjob was barely detectable.

"Dude!" Jon exclaimed. "I remember these! I used to sit in my dad's car and pretend that I was racing."

"I remember when my mom had one," Amelia said. "I can't remember what make it was, but it was small and light blue." She opened the driver's seat door and sat down behind the wheel. "Can it turn on?"

"No," Arin said. He sat in the passenger's seat next to her. "Wouldn't matter anyway since the wheels are gone."

"Yeah, I guess."

Jon and Natalie climbed into the seat behind them.

"It's really dusty in here," Jon complained.

"Yeah, and the seats are cracked," Natalie chimed in. "Wouldn't it be cool if we could fix this up?"

"What would we do with it?" Arin pointed out. "Drive it around the facility? The halls aren't big enough for that and it's too much of a hazard. It's the same reason that we don't even ride bikes."

"But it would be so cool to fix it up," Jon said. "Even if it's only for nostalgia's sake. It's so awesome! We could even get my dad to teach us how to drive it."

Arin looked at Amelia. For some time, she had been staring out at the vast landscape of the desert. "What are you thinking about?" he asked her.

Amelia shrugged. "I kind of wish Doug was here," she said. "He probably hasn't seen the night sky in years."

She looked back at him and was startled to see an angry expression on his face. He let out a huffy sigh and climbed out of the car. Amelia watched as he stormed away to the other side of the mesa.

"What did I say?" Amelia asked.

"I don't know if you noticed," Jon said in a low voice, "but Arin really likes you. I think he has a crush on you."

"I kind of thought as much," Amelia said quietly. "I don't think I like him the same way."

"Well, you better tell him soon," Jon said. "I like you and all but I like him more. If you hurt him—even on accident—I'll make sure you pay."

"Jeez, Jon," Natalie said. "That's harsh."

"No, I understand," Amelia said. "I'll try to let him down gently."


	20. Chapter 20: In Need of Friendship

**(Quick Author's Note: Yeah, I know I don't do this a lot but I need to bring something up. In this chapter, I mention a movie called _MirrorMask_. You don't have to have seen it to get this chapter but I highly recommend that you watch this movie. It's brilliant.**

**Also, thanks for the reviews. They really keep me going.)**

Arin sat down with his back to the mesa, dust kicking up from where his butt met the ground. Frustrated tears ran down his face and he did his best to wipe them away with the back of his hand. He knew he shouldn't be so upset about what Amelia had said. Could he really be so jealous? Could he really overreact so much when she didn't even know how he felt? Maybe he shouldn't have a crush on her. Did he really want to be in a relationship right now anyway? What if it led to him having kids with her?

_I don't want to raise children in a world like this anyway,_ Arin thought. _I should probably just give up on love for now._

There was a sudden, low growl that came from in front of him. He looked up and saw a four-legged animal with its feet firmly planted in the ground, keeping a defensive stance. When their eyes met, it growled again. Arin squinted in the dark and could make out clipped, pointed ears and a long tail. The stars cast a silvery shine on the dog's short gray fur. Yes, it was definitely a dog. A pitbull, at that. Arin vaguely remembered that there was some sort of negative stigma that people pinned to this breed. The dog's ears pressed against the side of its head as it threatened Arin with another growl.

"Come here, boy," Arin said, beckoning the dog with a gesture. "Come here."

The dog bared its teeth at him.

"It's okay," Arin said. He made a kissy noise and the dog stopped. Its ears perked up at the noise. Arin smiled. "You like that? It's okay. Come here."

He made the noise again and the dog wagged its tail slowly. It cautiously trotted over to him and sniffed his face. He made the kissy noise one more time and the dog licked his cheek affectionately.

"Aw! Good boy!" Arin said. He rubbed the dog's side and felt that its stomach was bulging slightly. The dog growled a little. He looked at its belly and saw sagging teets. That was why it had been so defensive in his presence. "Oh. Sorry I called you a boy, sweetie."

He rubbed her head and noticed that it was chapped and dry. He also noticed a metal beaded chain jingling around her neck. There was a military dog tag on the chain with the name Missy crudely scratched into it. "Your name's Missy, huh?" he asked. Missy licked him more and whimpered a little. It must have been a long time since someone had said her name to her.

"Arin?" Jon called as he came around the other side of the mesa. Natalie and Amelia followed. "We thought we heard you talking to someone over here."

Missy startled to growl as she rested her head on Arin's shoulder and stared at the oncoming humans.

"Guys, I found a dog," Arin called over to them gently. "She's scared and pregnant, though, so call her by her name to comfort her. Her name's Missy."

"Missy?" Natalie said. "Hey, Missy! Come here, girl!"

Missy wagged her long tail at the sound of her name and she sauntered over to Natalie who knelt down to take the dog in her arms. "Oh, poor baby! Her face is all dry out here. Looks like it hurts." Missy licked Natalie's nose.

"We have to take her back down with us," Arin insisted.

"What?" Amelia said. "No, we can't. She could be carrying a disease. That's why we don't have animals down there already. She could also be dangerous."

"Amelia, look at her," Arin said. "Does she really look dangerous?"

"You never know," was all Amelia could say to that.

"She's pregnant out in the desert with no one else to take care of her," Arin said in a firm voice. "I'm sorry, Chief Oates, but without your permission I'm going to rescue Missy and take her back down to the facility with us."

Amelia sighed. "Okay, fine," she said. "Do what you will, but don't call me Chief Oates anymore."

It wasn't hard to sneak Missy back into the facility. The only difficult part was keeping her on Arin's lap while they descended in the elevator. She was very nervous about it but Arin was able to keep her calm enough. Arin insisted that he would keep her in his room and he'd cook her breakfast and dinner every day. Jon seemed excited to have a dog in the facility and Natalie adored Missy. Amelia was ambivalent, though. She thought Missy was a cute dog but having a dog could use up more of their meat supplies than necessary. It would only get worse when she had her puppies. If Grant found out, all four of them would get into trouble.

Amelia finally got back to her apartment and went straight to her room. She fell onto the bed and stared up at the ceiling. She still needed to tell Arin that she wasn't interested in a relationship with him. Hopefully it would be easier to tell him now that he had his new, pregnant dog. He would be so preoccupied with her now that maybe he wouldn't care too much that she didn't want to date him. There was the possibility that she might give him a chance in the future once the world was taken back from the aliens. She wished she could have been able to start out their friendship with them just being…..Well, just being _friends_. She felt like she didn't really have any friends right now since Arin just wanted to date her while Jon and Natalie were on his side. If only she had someone on _her_ side.

"Amelia?"

She sat up and turned to look at the door she had left open. Doug was standing there in sweatpants and a white undershirt. He looked at her with tired eyes but his body language was restless.

"Hey, Doug," Amelia said in a flat tone. "What are you still doing up?"

"I can't sleep," Doug said. "Um….I was wondering if you'd actually want to watch a movie with me. If you're not too tired, that is."

"No, I'm not too tired yet," Amelia said. She got off her bed and led him to the living room. "Help yourself to a drink while I pick out a movie."

She wasn't in the mood for any certain genre in particular. She browsed through her movies with extreme disinterest until she came to one of her childhood favorites called the _MirrorMask_. It was about a British teenage girl whose dad owned a circus. She just wanted to live a normal teenager's life, but instead, she gets thrown into an adventure in the land of light and shadows. Amelia hadn't been able to relate to the main character when she was little, but now that she was living in an underground facility in hiding from the alien overlords she could understand the desire to live a normal life.

"Did you find a movie?" Doug asked as he came back into the room.

"Yeah," Amelia said. "I'd forgotten about this movie. It was written by one of my favorite authors."

"Who's that?"

"Neil Gaiman."

"Really? I've read a couple of his books."

Amelia looked up at him. "You have?"

"Yeah," Doug said. "_Good Omens_ and _American Gods_. He's got a unique style. Actually, I wonder if he's even still alive."

"There's no way of telling," Amelia said. "Unless we work really hard to track him down, but we've been focusing all of our resources on Aperture. Didn't you want a drink?"

"I have water boiling on the stove," Doug said. "I'm going to make green tea. Do you want any?"

"Yeah, I could go for some tea."

"Okay. I'll go check on the water."

Doug returned to the kitchen and Amelia started up the DVD. Too impatient to wait through the previews, she skipped forward to the main menu. She was getting eager to watch this movie as she recalled the silly character named Valentine. He was a juggler by trade, and wore a square pink mask with spikey hair and a spikey little beard. The mask gave him two eyes that were only about the width of his pinky finger. Valentine was a sneaky, greedy character who was only interested in getting rich as quickly and effortlessly as possible. He was so selfish and couldn't even apologize to get his tower back, but Amelia adored him because in the end he only has the best intentions towards the heroine Helena.

Doug finally came back holding two cups of tea.

"Oh, I could have gotten my own cup," Amelia said apologetically.

"It's no problem," Doug said. "I didn't want to make you get up." He gave her a tired smile. She smiled back. "I forgot to ask earlier, but did you have fun with your friends?"

"Sort of." She looked down into her cup of tea. The mug burned her hands a little from the heat of the mug. "Apparently, Arin 'likes' me a lot."

"Oh?" Doug asked. He didn't really sound interested or surprised.

"Yeah, but now I have to break it to him that I don't feel the same way."

"Oh?" This time, Doug _did_ sound surprised. "I was beginning to think that you two were already a couple."

"Why would you think that?"

"Well, I don't know. He seems pretty jealous and protective with you."

"I guess I never thought that that meant he liked me. How should I break the news to him?" She looked at Doug and noticed that his brow was wrinkled in frustration. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Doug murmured.

"Is it the voices?"

"Yeah." He gave her a weak smile. "I'm sorry you have to put up with me."

"I'm not 'putting up' with you. I'd like to consider you as a friend. Oh! I almost forgot to tell you! We snuck up to the surface and we found a dog."

"A dog? Really?"

"Yeah, and she's pregnant."

"Huh," Doug mused. "I haven't seen a dog in so long. It's amazing that you found one. And it's pregnant, too. What a deal. Do you want to start the movie now?"

"Sure." Amelia hit 'play' on the remote and the movie started.

Helena was just a teenager in Britain who worked as a juggler for her dad's circus. Between performances, her mother inexplicably collapses backstage. Later on, Helena visits her mother in the hospital and Amelia felt a sense of dread settling into the pit of her stomach. Somehow, she'd forgotten about this part of the movie. She felt tears sting the corners of her eyes and she bit her bottom lip as it started to tremble when Helena's mother told her that they were already prepping her for surgery. Amelia always regretted not being able to spend more time with her mother before she died. Why couldn't she have been able to say goodbye? She swallowed her emotions until the movie really picked up when Helena woke up in the once beautiful land of light which was being engulfed by darkness.

* * *

The movie ended and Doug found that he was crying a little. He enjoyed happy endings. He'd never expected the happy ending that he'd gotten himself. With the way things had been going in Aperture he had been sure that he would have ended up dying there of either starvation or one of GLaDOS' traps. He looked toward his savior but she had fallen asleep next to him. He smiled and picked her up in his arms. She stirred a little but she just ended up resting her head on his chest. Doug carried her to her bedroom and laid her down on the bed.

"_Why don't you lie down next to her?"_

Doug was about to scold the voice in his head, but then he looked at Amelia's face as she slept. Her eyes fluttered a little as she dreamed. She looked so peaceful and sweet as she rolled over onto her back.

"_You know you want to."_

_That thought shouldn't be as tempting as it is,_ Doug thought. He couldn't help imagining himself spooning—_Is it called spooning?_ he thought—with her in her bed. She would be so warm and soft. And real. The one thing that Anna hadn't been.

Amelia murmured something and Doug leaned down to hear what it was. She mumbled again. Doug noticed that his face was only a few inches from hers now.

"_Kiss her."_

_I…can't,_ he thought.

"_Do it. Kiss her. She's asleep so she won't know."_

Doug's stomach knotted as he leaned in a little closer and could feel her warmth. Their lips were almost touching. Just a centimeter away….But at the last second, he chickened out. He shut her door quietly and returned to his own room.

"I'm so stupid," he said to himself. "Why would I kiss her? I don't want to. I really don't." His speech started to become more rapid with each sentence. "She's too young for me. She wouldn't want me to kiss her. She'd probably find me repulsive. Why did I want to kiss her in the first place? I don't like her like that. I don't! I _don't!_ This is so stupid! W-Why am I even thinking about this?! Even if she _were_ my age, she'd be out of my league. She's too good for me. Such a sweet girl. Such a beautiful, caring young woman. No! Stop it! D-Don't say things like that about her! And don't talk so damn loud!"

His gaze suddenly stopped on his bottle of pills on the nightstand.

"You idiot," he muttered. "You forgot to take your pills hours ago."


	21. Chapter 21: Toby

Amelia sat down with Doug at a table in the cafeteria. Doug had a large pile of scrambled eggs on his plate. Amelia felt silly with just a few bagels and cream cheese. She almost felt like she should be competing with Doug. They sat down at a two-person table and Doug immediately began to shovel eggs into his mouth.

"Leave yourself time to breathe between mouthfuls, Doug," Amelia joked.

Doug smiled but just continued to eat his eggs.

"Have you been remembering to take your pills?" Amelia asked.

Doug nodded but he seemed to hesitate with the gesture. He continued to eat.

"Um, I forgot to thank you earlier for moving me back to my bed last night," Amelia said awkwardly.

Doug swallowed his food and said, "No problem. You didn't look comfortable slouching on the couch." She wasn't sure but Amelia thought she noticed Doug's face turning a little red.

"I had fun watching that movie with you," she continued. "That was just what I needed—a movie with a friend. Did you enjoy the movie?"

Doug nodded. "Yeah," he said. "I'm glad you enjoyed just sitting around with me. I hope we can do it again sometime."

"Me, too. You're a great friend, Doug."

Doug opened his mouth to say something but Arin suddenly showed up.

"Hey, Amelia," he said. "I was wondering if you wanted to check out the android we have ready."

"You already finished one?" Amelia asked, surprised.

"Yeah," Arin said. His eyes were quite wild today. "Mikey had designed an AI so we promised the first android body to him. Do you want to swing by my lab after lunch?"

"Sounds cool," Amelia said. "Yeah, I'll check it out. Will Wheatley be there?"

"Of course. I want him to get a taste of what he'll be getting when his body is ready."

"I bet he's pretty excited for that already."

Arin turned to Doug. "Do you want to come with?" It was obvious that he wouldn't be asking—or even talking to Doug at all—if Amelia wasn't sitting right there.

Doug shook his head. "I have some drawing that I want to get done." He said this to Amelia and didn't acknowledge that Arin had been speaking to him.

"Well, I'll see you then, Amelia" Arin said.

"Oh, wait!" Amelia said before Arin left. Then she said more quietly, "How's Missy doing?"

Arin grinned. "She's so sweet," he said, kneeling down next to her. "Last night, she cuddled up next to me in my bed. She's such a sweetie."

"That's adorable," Amelia said, smiling with him. "It's nice that she doesn't have to sleep out in the hot desert anymore. How far along does she look?"

Arin shrugged. "I have no idea. Do you think I could get the vet to look at her and keep a secret?"

"You have a vet here?" Doug asked. "I haven't even seen any animals here."

"The only animals we have here are farm animals for food," Amelia told him. She turned back to Arin and said, "I wouldn't trust Kellie to keep a secret. There might be someone here with experience in birthing puppies."

"It'll be too hard to find someone else," Arin said. "I might consider going to Kellie. Anyway, I need to get going. I'll see you around 2 'o clock?"

"Sure," Amelia said. "See you then."

Arin stood up again and headed back out of the cafeteria.

"You should have told him."

Amelia turned to Doug. "What?"

"You should have told him that you don't want to be in a relationship with him."

"Yeah, I know. I'll get to it."

* * *

Arin opened the door and let Amelia into his lab. Wheatley was hanging from the ceiling and Mikey sat sitting in a chair by a lab table.

"So where's the android?" Amelia asked.

"Yes, where _is_ this android?" Wheatley asked. "I want to see what these bodies look like."

"Stevie is bringing him down here," Arin said. "He wanted to do some simple, last-minute tests with Toby really quick."

"Toby?" Amelia repeated. She sat down next to Mikey.

"That's the AI's name," Mikey said. "You're really going to like him. I've been working so hard on him for years. He's probably my best completed project. I had to start out with a basic format of an android AI from a Black Mesa computer. Some of the code keeps getting corrupted and he might be a little buggy, but he works pretty well for the most part."

There was a knock on the door, and Arin opened it for Stevie and a young man. The young man had short brown hair and dark brown eyes. He was slim and handsome and gave everyone the most charming smile. He didn't have any kind of seductive air bout him, though. Amelia thought of a playful puppy when she saw his face. He looked comfortable in a pair of cargo shorts and a t-shirt.

"Hey guys," he said in a perfect tenor voice. "What's up?"

"Where's the bloody android?!" Wheatley exclaimed. "I'm getting very impatient now! I want to see this new kind of body!"

"Wheatley, this _is_ the android," Mikey said, standing up and putting a proud hand on Toby's shoulder. "This is Toby. Toby, that sphere on the ceiling is Wheatley. He's another AI."

"Huh," Toby said. "I've never met another AI before. That's an interesting ball-like body you have. I wish I could have started out in something like that. I've been in a computer up until now." He noticed Amelia and the grin got wider. "Hothothot! Who's the girl?"

"This is Amelia," Arin said. "And you can't just call her hot before you meet her." He was obviously jealous and Amelia was embarrassed.

"It's a compliment!" Toby said, putting his hands up with his palms facing Arin. "I was just complimenting the nice lady. It's nice to meet you, Amelia." Toby took Amelia's hand in his and kissed hers lightly. Amelia blushed a little. She couldn't believe that he was a robot.

"Well done, guys," she said to the three men. "Toby, if I just saw you walking in the halls, I never would have suspected that you were an android."

"There's only one real way to tell," Mikey said. "Look into his eyes carefully."

Amelia looked into Toby's bright, dazzling eyes. His irises looked just like a human's and he even seemed to have tiny red veins in the whites. But when she looked into his pupils, she noticed that they didn't look like endless black pits like a normal man's. They just barely looked like small camera lenses.

"I see it," Amelia said. "You have little lenses in your eyes."

"Thank you," Toby said. "You have lovely eyes, too."

"Ugh!" Wheatley groaned. "I wish I had a body right now! Why couldn't I have this one?!"

"Toby was here first, Wheatley," Mikey explained.

"Well, if Wheatley _really_ wants this body, he can have it," Toby said. "I can wait for the next one."

"No, Wheatley will just have to wait," Stevie said. "I'm sorry, Wheatley. Your body is almost done, if it makes you feel any better."

"Do you promise it will be done soon?" Wheatley asked. "I'm itching to have a human body. It looks like so much fun. I want to try eating food. What's it like to eat food, Toby?"

"It's amazing," Toby said with great sincerity. "Especially ice cream. It's so sweet and creamy. I haven't eaten much yet but I think ice cream might be my favorite food."

"It's still junk, though," Mikey said. "You need to be eating vegetables."

"Yeah, yeah," Toby said. "I will. But ice cream is so awesome, Wheatley. Try it as soon as you can."

"I want a body now!" Wheatley said.

"Stay patient, Wheatley," Amelia said. "You'll get one soon."

"Will you show me everything, Amelia?" Wheatley asked. "Show me food and running and picking things up with my hands."

"_I_ can show you all of that stuff," Arin offered.

"Sorry, Arin, but I want Amelia to show me," Wheatley said.

"I guess that's alright."

"Hey, can we go for a walk?" Toby asked. "I want to see what this facility looks like."

"I wish _I_ could go for a walk," Wheatley continued to whine.

"You can follow us on your rail," Amelia pointed up.

"Walking would be more fun." Wheatley pouted as they left the lab to show Toby around.


	22. Chapter 22: A Nice Evening In

Amelia didn't get home until around 7 in the evening. She was so hungry that she could just imagine the smell of food in her apartment. Wait, she actually did smell food. She wandered into her kitchen and saw Doug stirring something in a pot over the stove. When he saw her come in, he smiled.

"I hope you're hungry," he said. "I made you ramen noodles for dinner."

"Great. I'm starving." Amelia noticed a pan of burnt rice sitting off on an unlit burner. "What's that?" she asked, gesturing toward the pan.

"Well, I was planning on making chicken fried rice for you, but halfway through, I realized that I couldn't remember how to make it. I ended up burning it so I just decided to make ramen noodles instead."

Amelia hugged his scrawny waist, and said, "Thanks, Doug. You always seem to know what I need. And you didn't have to do this."

Doug hugged her back. "Consider it as a 'thank you' for getting me out of Aperture." He let go of her and went back to stirring. "I also picked out something for us to watch."

"Really? What did you pick?"

"Well, I was actually pretty surprised to find that you have _Mr. Show_ in your collection. It's kind of an old series."

"I've never actually seen it," Amelia admitted. "I just grabbed all of my mom's videos to add to my collection."

"Oh. Well, you'll like _Mr. Show_. It has some tasteless, crude jokes but it's still pretty funny." Doug turned off the burner and took a sip from a beer bottle that was sitting on the counter.

"Um, Doug?" Amelia asked. "Didn't you say that alcohol makes your, uh, _condition_ worse?"

"Yeah, but I really felt like I needed one tonight," Doug said. He was obviously feeling a little bit ashamed of himself. "I've been under a lot of stress trying to fit in here. I don't know if you can tell but I'm not used to living with humans again."

"Well, that better be your only beer," Amelia said.

"I've lost so much weight that I'll only _need_ one beer."

"Really?"

"Haven't you noticed how disgustingly skinny I am? Why don't you grab a beer while I get the noodles into some bowls for us?"

Amelia grabbed a bottle and brought it to the living room. The main menu for the DVD was already up. It showed two guys sitting with an old TV between them. One of them was bald with glasses while them other looked older but had a full head of brown hair. Amelia couldn't tell yet what this show was about.

Doug brought in two bowls of ramen noodles and set them down on the coffee tables in front of the couch. He started the show and the two men from the main menu started doing sketches with a cast of actors. They made jokes ranging from the two men not knowing the fifty states or getting Hitler confused for Anne Frank to a man sticking his dick into holes in a wall. Amelia was kind of excited to recognize Jack Black. She had seen him in _School of Rock_ where he taught a bunch of kids how to rock out. She and Doug laughed together as they watched the first two episodes. During the third episode, Doug asked, "So what was the android like?"

"Way too realistic," Amelia said. "The AI was really good, too. He acted just like a normal human." Her cheeks grew pink. "He was actually pretty charming and cute."

"You're not falling for him, are you?" Doug joked, nudging her a little.

"Of course not," Amelia said.

"By the way," Doug said, "were you able to have that talk with Arin?"

"No. I didn't really get an opportune time."

"That's too bad. I'll be right back."

Doug got up and took the now empty bowls into the kitchen. Amelia sipped the last of her beer and sat back in the couch. This was nice. She could hang out with Doug without any drama. However, there was a bit of tension for her. She felt a little nervous. Doug _was_ older than her. But he didn't act like he was around someone who was probably a lot younger than he was. Amelia wondered how old he had been when all hell broke loose in Aperture. Maybe mid-twenties? How old would that make him now? Forty-something? She didn't want to think that he was _that_ old. People would start to judge them for hanging out together. And anyway, she really liked him.

He suddenly came back with another two bottles of beer.

"I thought you were only going to have _one_," Amelia pointed out.

"This will be my last one," Doug said. "I promise. Please?"

"This better be your last," Amelia said, "or I will tackle you to take away your third."

Doug laughed. "Deal," he agreed. He handed her a bottle and sat down next to her. "Pardon me if I'm being too nosy, but why aren't you attracted to Arin? You seem to have chemistry."

"Well, he might be smart and funny and kind of cute," Amelia said, "but I don't know. He's alright but I just don't want to be with him."

"There's someone else, isn't there?"

"What makes you say that?"

"Just a gut feeling. Who is it?"

Amelia said nothing. She looked down at her bottle and took a sip. The lack of food that she'd had for that day was making the beer go straight to her head.

"Is it Mikey?"

Her cheeks burned a little. "N-No," she said. "I mean, I did have a crush on him for a while but that's it."

Doug let out a short, frustrated sigh. She looked at him and noticed that there was a little wrinkle between his eyebrows.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

Doug nodded. "It's just my schizophrenia."

"I knew you shouldn't have had any beer."

He was about to say, "I'm fine. Really." But before he could, Amelia put her arms around his waist and held him. He had no idea what to say to this so he selected the next episode of _Mr. Show_. She didn't move away from him as they watched the episode so he put his arm around her and held her so that she snuggled into his side. They laughed some more at the show and before they knew it, the first disk was over.

"Do you want to watch the second disk?" Doug asked.

"I should probably catch up on my sleep," Amelia said. "I've been really tired lately." She sat up and Doug watched her as she stretched her arms over her head. "Thanks for being such great company as always."

"I do my best," Doug said. "Let me take these bottles back to the kitchen." He was in such a hurry that he didn't notice Amelia already reaching for the bottle and he accidentally grabbed her hand instead. Yes, it was just as cheesy as when this happens on TV and Doug was aware of this.

"_Come on, Dougy,"_ said a mocking female voice. _"Pull her close and kiss her passionately. Girls love that sort of thing."_

Doug took his hand away and muttered an apology as he looked away. Amelia's insides fluttered nervously. Was he embarrassed or bashful?

"Um, it's okay," she said. "You can take the bottles in. I'm going to get ready for bed." She stood up and walked down the hall to her bedroom.

Doug clumsily snatched up the bottles and rushed to the kitchen. He set the bottles in the sink and slumped over the counter, squeezing his eyes shut.

"_Oh, poor little Dougy,"_ the female voice said, still as sarcastically as before. _"You're in love, aren't you?"_

"No," Doug murmured. "I'm not in love. Stop putting these outrageous thoughts into my head."

"_But Doug, they were already here. We only work with what you give us."_ The voice laughed coldly and Doug almost thought he could hear GLaDOS' laugh mixed in with it. This was confirmed when GLaDOS said in his head, _"But you know what, Rattmann? You don't deserve her. That Arin kid deserves her more than you do. You're barely even human anymore. You're more like her pet."_

Doug turned around, and pinched the bridge of his nose with his index finger and thumb, his eyes still squeezed shut. "I know I don't deserve her," he said sadly. He sighed and headed back toward his room. He stopped at the closed bathroom door where he could hear her brushing her teeth. He quietly placed his hand on the door and sighed again. He felt like a burden to her. Maybe he should just leave. He could use the way that Amelia and her friends had used the previous night.

The doorknob jiggled as Amelia unlocked the door and Doug quickly took his hand off the door. She jumped a little when she saw Doug right outside. She was standing in the doorway wearing shorts and a white tank top. Doug couldn't help noticing that she wasn't wearing a bra. "Hey, Doug," she said meekly. She crossed her arms over her chest for obvious reasons and Doug tried not to stare. "Did you need something?"

"Uh, I need to pee," he blurted.

"Oh. Sorry to keep you waiting. Thanks again for the relaxing night." She stood on her toes and kissed him on the cheek. Then she hurried to her room.

Doug didn't go into the bathroom. He locked himself up in his room and sat on the floor with his back to the door. "Shit," he said. He couldn't leave her. He'd just have to suck it up. He lightly brushed his cheek with his fingertips and could still feel the kiss.

* * *

Amelia lied in her bed but she couldn't get comfortable. Not after she'd had Doug to rest against. She couldn't stop thinking about him. He was so considerate of her and he had a great sense of humor. She fell asleep with the memory of Doug's face and warmth in her mind.


	23. Chapter 23: Support

Amelia sat alone as she ate breakfast in the cafeteria. Doug had said that he wasn't feeling well and that she should go eat without him. She hoped that it didn't have anything to do with the noodles from the previous night. What if the beer had made him sick? She blamed herself a little for letting him have that second beer. Or what if it had something to do with the peck on the cheek that she'd given him? She still couldn't believe that she'd mustered up the courage to do that. Why _had_ she kissed him?

"Amy!" cried a joyous, little voice.

Amelia turned and saw an excited four-year-old boy with curly copper hair running toward her. She smiled. "Warwick!" she exclaimed. She stood and kneeled down to catch him in her arms. "How have you been, little guy? I haven't seen you in forever."

"I've been in the nursery," he said. "Daddy got hurt."

"Yeah, I was there," Amelia said. "How is your daddy?"

"Daddy's feeling better," Nate said as he caught up with his son. "I finally got some time to see him. Where's Doug?"

"He said he wasn't feeling well this morning," Amelia explained. "He's back at the apartment right now."

"Should I come over and give him a check-up?" Nate asked. "I probably should, anyway. Just to be sure that he's healthy."

"I'm sure he'll be feeling better by lunch time." An idea popped into her head and she went with it before she chickened out. "Hey, do you want to come over tonight for dinner? You and Warwick, I mean. I could make something nice."

"Sounds good to me," Nate said. He picked up a giggling Warwick and set him down on his broad shoulders. "We'll stop by around five this evening. Could I talk to you out in the hall for a minute?"

"Yeah, of course." She had no idea what this was about but she followed Nate out through an exit that was used less often than the main double doors. The hall was totally empty and the only sound came from the din of the cafeteria.

"I caught wind that you want to go back into Aperture," Nate said once he was sure they were alone.

"Who did you hear that from?" Amelia asked. She hoped that Arin hadn't gone and ran his mouth about it.

"Now, I don't want to get anyone in trouble," Nate said. "Let's just say I heard it down the grape vine. Anyway, you want to go back for Nora, right?"

"Daddy, I'm hungry!" Warwick complained.

"One minute, kiddo," Nate said to his son.

"Yeah, I want to try to do a surprise correctly," Amelia said. "Doug misses Nora and Wheatley is crazy for her so this should work out."

"Do you have anyone on your side for this?"

"Well, Arin said he'd back me up so I think I can also count on Jon. Natalie will probably go if Jon does. And I'm pretty sure Mikey would go if I asked him."

"Well, count me in, too," Nate said proudly. "I can't stand the thought of the girl stuck in that place without any friends."

"Really?" Amelia asked with a huge grin. "This is great! How can Grant say no when I have so many people to back me up?"

"He'd have to be an idiot not to listen to you."

"Daddy, you're not supposed to call people names like that," Warwick said. "Mrs. Fiona says that's a meanie word in class."

"I'm sorry, Warwick," Nate said. "That's m'boy."

* * *

Nate's support was just what Amelia needed. She knocked on the door of Grant's apartment and waited as patiently as she could. She had rolled her hair up in a bun to appear more professional to her elder. Not that she needed her appearance to win him over. She pretty much had five people to back her up on this so she was feeling very confident. Grant opened the door. He was in his casual wear—sweatpants and a t-shirt—but he didn't seem surprised that she was there.

"Afternoon, Chief," he said in his rough voice. "I suppose you're here to talk about going back into Aperture, aren't you?"

"I'm guessing you heard this through gossip," Amelia said, not trying to hide her annoyance. "Well, yes. I'm here to talk about that."

"You might as well come in." Grant led her into his living room. He had a ton of Steelers paraphernalia despite American football being abolished after the Combine took over. He had four very large leather armchairs and Amelia sunk into one of these as she sat down.

"So," Grant said, sitting down next to her, "may I ask for what insane reason you want to go back to that death trap?"

"It's for Nora," Amelia explained. "You said before that we should focus our efforts on Doug, but he's here now. I was hoping that we could go back and retrieve Nora this time. She's a sentient being that's probably terrified right now. I already have about five people to back me up with this."

"Chief Oates," Grant interrupted. "I understand your sympathy towards Nora. I know that you want to make up for the surprise that you had tried to put together for Wheatley and Rattmann. However, you need to consider the safety of your people here. Nate got hurt but we were lucky enough to get away with him just getting a deep cut. We only just got lucky. If we go back, we won't have the element of surprise as much as we did and she could kill one of us."

"But I have people saying that they would be willing to go," Amelia pleaded. "Grant, come on. I need your help."

"I'm sorry but the answer is still no."

"We can't just leave that poor girl in Aperture! She's got to be miserable in there!" At this point, Amelia's voice was shaking a little as she got more and more upset. "Grant, be reasonable!"

"You'll understand one day what it's really like to be in charge of so many lives," Grant said. "Right now, you're too young to understand how difficult a decision this is and how this is the only choice to make. Why don't you go back home or hang out with your friends? You'll accept this as the way it needs to be one day."

Amelia was doing her best not to slap Grant in the face. How could he be so condescending like that? Who did he think he was talking to? _She_ was _his_ superior. She sat up with her back straight and looked him dead in the eyes.

"I respectfully disagree with you, Grant," she said in the calmest, most professional voice she could manage. "And I want you to know that I don't need your god damn help. I'll form a team on my own, I'll gather the supplies on my own, I'll draw up a plan on my own." She stood up and walked to the door, but before she left she turned around. "One day you'll understand why I have to do this."


	24. Chapter 24: Temptation is Maddening

Amelia frantically baked frozen chicken nuggets while boiling the macaroni on the stove. It was only a few minutes until 5 p.m. Nate was due for dinner any minute. She wished she had something to offer them for desert, but she hadn't thought of it in time to grab a pie from the cafeteria desert table. The macaroni water started to boil over and she swore as she moved it to an unlit burner.

"Do you need any help?" Doug asked as he appeared in the kitchen doorway.

"No, I'm alright," Amelia insisted. "I just wish I hadn't forgotten about this until the last half-hour."

There was a knock on the door and she swore again. "Can you finish up the macaroni for me?" she asked as she hurried to the door. She opened it and let her guests in. "Are you hungry, Warwick?" she asked as she led them to the living room.

"I want food!" he said.

"How about we watch _Pokémon_ until food is ready?" she suggested.

"Yeah!" Warwick said excitedly. "I like Pikachu!"

"Is Pikachu your favorite?"

"No."

"Who is?"

"Mewtwo."

Nate chuckled a little. "He likes Mewtwo for his lessons," he explained.

"Mewtwo is cool!" Warwick exclaimed.

Doug joined them and greeted Nate.

"Evening, Doug!" Nate said. "I want you to meet my boy Warwick. Warwick, this is Doug Rattmann."

"You saved my daddy," Warwick said.

"Yeah, I guess," Doug said, smiling.

"I'm going to put the show on now," Amelia said. She rummaged through her video cabinet until she found her DVD of the first season of _Pokémon_. She put on the first episode just as the oven timer went off.

"I'll get that for you," Doug said. He disappeared into the kitchen.

"How's Doug getting on with everyone else?" Nate asked. He sat down on the couch and Amelia sat next to him. She noticed that he had a large bag sitting on the floor next to him.

"He's not very social but I don't mind," Amelia said. "It's completely understandable."

"He isn't just sitting in his room all day, is he?"

"No, he actually likes to hang out with me in here. He just doesn't like to leave the apartment much."

"Well, that's a shame."

Doug returned but stayed at the edge of the room. "I took the chicken nuggets out so that they could cool," he said. "Would anyone like me to get them a drink?"

"Juice!" Warwick said.

"I have his sippy cup in here," Nate said. He reached into his large bag and brought out a blue sippy cup.

"I can fill that up," Amelia said. She took the cup and started walking toward the kitchen. "Oh!" She turned around. "What would you like to drink, Nate?"

"I'll just have a glass of ice water, if you don't mind," he said.

Doug followed Amelia into the kitchen and put some ice in a glass. Amelia got out her jug of apple juice and filled up the sippy cup. There was a slight tension in the kitchen as they silently prepared the drinks. She felt that she had to say something.

"Doug?" Amelia got the courage to say.

"Hm?"

"Um….Nothing." She quickly went back out to the living room and gave Warwick his sippy cup.

"Mmmm!" Warwick said as he sipped the apple juice.

"So did you talk to Grant yet?" Nate asked.

"Yeah, but don't tell Doug about it," Amelia quickly said. "It's supposed to be a surprise. I'll tell you about it tomorrow."

Doug came back into the room and handed Nate his glass of water. He sat next to Amelia but gave her some good distance between them.

"So I wanted to ask you something, Nate," Amelia said. "Would you happen to know anything about birthing puppies?"

"As a matter of fact, yes," Nate said. "My wife and I used to breed Boston terriers."

"Really?" Amelia asked, surprised by her stroke of good luck.

"Why do you ask?"

"Can you keep a secret for me?" Amelia asked cautiously.

"Of course. You can count on me."

"Well, last night, I snuck up to the surface with some of my friends and we found a pregnant dog that Arin is keeping in his apartment." She said it all in a paranoid rush.

"You did?" Nate asked. "What breed is she? What's her name?"

"Her name is Missy and she's a pitbull."

"A pitbull, huh? Do you have any idea how far along she could be?"

"No. Not at all." Amelia glanced over at Doug and noticed that he was watching _Pokémon_ like Warwick was.

"Well, I suppose I can have a look at her some time," Nate said. "It's been a while since I last took care of a pregnant dog."

"Any help would be appreciated."

"Let's not tell Warwick about it, though. I want to surprise him with a puppy when they're born."

* * *

Once she had said goodnight to her guests, Amelia shut the door and sighed. She was exhausted. She shuffled back to the living room and sat down next to Doug. She sighed again and rested against his shoulder.

"Are you okay?" Doug asked.

"Yeah," she said. "I'm just tired. Too tired to go to my room."

"Would you like me to carry you to your room again?" Doug asked.

Amelia shook her head and snuggled into him more. Doug put his arm around her and let her rest against the right side of his chest. She watched _Pokémon_ but Doug could no longer concentrate on the show. He told himself that he should say something to her. Anything. _Come on!_ he thought. _Tell her that you like her. Tell her that having her next to you makes you feel incredible. At least tell her that you enjoy her company, for god's sake!_ But he didn't say anything. He stared at the TV while thinking of all the things he could say to her and how stupid he was.

_This isn't right,_ he thought. _She's from a different generation than me. Why do I like her so damn much?_

He glanced down at her face but she was asleep. His hands shook a little as he held her. Her body was so warm. He stroked the skin on her upper arm and his hands shook more when he felt how soft she was.

"_So very soft,"_ a voice said. _"Touch her cheek."_

Doug cupped her cheek in his rough hand. Her face was even warmer. He wanted to kiss this cheek. If he could at least kiss her cheek, he would be satisfied.

"Doug?" she suddenly mumbled sleepily. He froze with his hand on her cheek. Had he just been caught? He waited a few moments but it turned out that she was just mumbling in her sleep. Was she dreaming about him?

"_Kiss her!"_ an angry voice said. _"Kiss her, you coward! You're such a fucking coward! She wants you. She kissed her cheek. You think that doesn't mean anything?"_

_I can't explain why she did that,_ Doug thought, _but that doesn't mean that she's in love with me._

"_Put your hand on her waist,"_ the voice continued. _"Do it."_

Doug couldn't resist this idea. He slowly moved his arm down to her waist. She stirred a little but she didn't wake up. She just moved closer to him. He shook more. A girl was resting against his chest and dreaming about him. She felt perfect under his arm. There was nothing anymore but this feeling. He never wanted her to leave his side again. How would he tell her that he loved her? She didn't seem like she wanted to be in any relationship.

"_Give her a fucking kiss!"_ The voice was more aggressive now. _"Chicks love it when you wake them up with a kiss! Put your hand on her thigh. She's asleep. She won't know."_

Doug moved his other hand down to her thigh and rested it there. She curled into his side and gently grabbed his arm. "Mmmmm," she mumbled.

"I can't do this," he whispered. His _voice_ was even shaking at this point. "I can't do this. I can't do this. I won't do this. This is bad. Bad. Bad. Bad. Mad. She'll be mad if she wakes up and finds me doing this." He could feel himself starting to slip away. "No. No no no no no no no no. Not now. I'm so stupid. I'm so fucking stupid. Fucking stupid. Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck. What should I fucking do? What should I do, Companion Cube? What should I do? Please talk to me."

"_Doug?"_ the Cube called faintly from his closet.


	25. Chapter 25: What Wasn't Meant To Be Seen

_Amelia dreamed that Doug had wings. He was wearing the filthy clothes that she had found him in. His hair was long and messy again, and he had his scruffy beard. He smiled and reached a hand down to her. She looked around herself and noticed that she was in a deep, dark pit. Doug was pretty high up from where she stood, but when she reached up to him, she didn't have any trouble grabbing his hand. He pulled her out of the pit and held her. His arms were around her waist and he pulled her close to him. She felt safe while he held her. Even safer than being in an underground fortress. But this embrace didn't last long. He took her hand and quickly led her down a long hallway that she recognized to be in Aperture. GLaDOS' voice spoke from all around them._

_ "Don't think you're going to escape this time, Doug," she said. "I know all of your tricks. I've found all of your hideouts and I've defaced your drawings. Why don't you come into my chamber so we can talk about your punishment like civilized beings?"_

_ Doug didn't slow down at all. He hurried to the end of the hall and opened a door. The door led out to a large chamber with no floor at all. It just had one giant, bottomless pit. He took her in his arms and jumped. They fell for a second before his wings unfolded and flapped to carry them to the opposite wall that looked like it was a mile away. There was a door on that wall and Doug was determined to get through it._

_ "Doug, this is dangerous!" Amelia exclaimed._

_ Doug looked at her and smiled. "Don't worry," he said. "I won't let you fall."_

_He looked back to their destination. The door swung open just before they hit it and Doug folded up his wings as he landed on a tiled floor. That's when Amelia noticed that he was barefoot. The door shut behind them and in front of them was a gigantic version of Wheatley. Amelia assumed that this was how his new body had looked like when he had taken over Aperture. He stared at Doug angrily._

"_I knew you were no good, Doug," Wheatley said. "First you take my Nora from me, now you're stealing Amelia. Are you never satisfied? Why can't you just die?!"_

"_Wheatley, don't talk to Doug like that!" Amelia shouted._

"_You're leaving me!" Wheatley shouted. "Please don't leave me, Amelia! I'll kill you if you try to leave me! NO ONE CAN LEAVE ME!"_

_Giant metal claws came out of the ceiling and snapped at them. Doug pulled Amelia out of the way. He didn't seem scared at all. In fact, he was laughing as if he were a child playing a game. He held her close and stomped once on the floor. A trapdoor opened up beneath them and they started falling. It was dark all around them and Amelia couldn't see the ground._

"_Doug, what do we do now?" Amelia asked, panicking. "I don't want to fall to my death!"_

_Doug put his hand on her cheek. She could clearly feel it. His hand was still calloused, but it was warm and its touch was soft. She could see his face, his loving smile. Amelia's heart melted like butter._

"_I won't let anything happen to you," he said. "I need you too much."_

_ He suddenly took her up in his arms and spread out his wings which he beat powerfully. They gently landed on a concrete floor in front of a young woman. She was small and had beautifully fair hair. Amelia couldn't focus on the girl's face, but somehow she knew that it was Nora. She could feel anger emanating from Nora and hitting Amelia like a boiling tide. Doug was smiling at Nora, though. He didn't seem to feel the tension._

_ "Stay away from Wheatley," Nora told Amelia. "Don't hang out with him. He's mine. I saw him first. I was his friend first. Don't even talk to him anymore or I'll kill you."_

_ Before Amelia could respond, an intense wave of fire shot out at her._

* * *

Amelia jerked awake and found that she was alone on the couch. She sat up and looked around but Doug wasn't even in the room. She decided that she might as well go back to her room. As she shuffled toward her room, though, she heard a soft noise coming from Doug's room. It sounded like he was talking to someone.

"Doug?" she called. He kept mumbling but he didn't answer her. She slowly opened the door and peeked in. He wasn't on the bed or anywhere on the floor, but she could still hear him. She cautiously approached the closet and carefully slid open the door. Doug was sitting at the bottom of the closet with his Companion Cube. He looked up at her with wild, watery eyes. He seemed to be muttering to the Cube. She couldn't understand all of what he said but she caught the words "protect", "lovely", and "leading on."

"Doug, are you okay?" Amelia asked as she knelt down in front of him.

The tears in Doug's eyes broke free and rolled down his cheeks. He began to sob and his face turned red. He was obviously very embarrassed. This broke Amelia's heart to see him like this.

"Doug, it's okay," she said. "Everything will be okay." She reached a hand up to touch his face but he flinched under her touch. He sobbed even harder now. "What's wrong, Doug?"

"I-I-I-I'm s-s-so sorry!" he sobbed. He put his hands up to his face and cried more. "I-I'm so sorry, Am-melia!"

"It's okay, Doug." She squeezed into the closet with him, but the Companion Cube made it so that there wasn't a lot of room. She ended up having to sit on Doug's lap. She wrapped her arms around him and stroked his hair. "Don't worry about it, Doug. It's okay. I thought you said you'd been taking your pills."

"I-I stopped!" he cried. "I'm sorry! I w-wanted to hear the Companion Cube again! I-I wanted to see A-Anna again!"

"Who's Anna?" Amelia asked. Doug just kept crying, though. "Doug, where are your pills?"

"I-In my nightstand drawer. Amelia, please forgive me. Please."

"It's okay. I'm going to get you your pills and I would really like it if you took them."

Doug nodded so she stood and went to his nightstand. She grabbed the bottle of pills and brought them back to Doug. She took two out and held them out for him. He swallowed the pills dry and continued to cry. Amelia couldn't stand seeing him so upset. Tears welled up in her eyes, too, but she was able to keep them back.

"I'm sorry I didn't take my pills," Doug wept. "I know that I need them. Thank you so much for sitting here with me. Thank you. Thank you so much. I-I feel a lot better with you here. You're such an angel. You're such a great friend. Please never abandon me. I know I'm a freak. I'm such a god damn freak! But I need your company." He held her tightly in his lap. "Please, Amelia. Amelia. Amelia. Sweet Amelia. You're so sweet to me. You're so nice to me."

"Shhhhh," she hushed. "Don't worry, Doug. I won't abandon you. You're my best friend, okay?"

"I-I don't deserve you. I should have taken my p-p-pills. I'm so st-stupid. Stupid stupid stupid! Why can't I be normal?! Why can't I just have a normal brain?! I hate my mind! I hate my thoughts!"

Amelia kissed his forehead and he stopped insulting himself. He just held her and cried himself to sleep. Amelia couldn't sleep a wink, though. She had to think of some way to make him feel better.


	26. Chapter 26: Swimming

Once again, Amelia ate breakfast in the cafeteria alone. Her breakfast consisted of one orange. Doug had locked himself in his room and wouldn't even answer the door when she knocked. He must have been so embarrassed and it tore Amelia up knowing that she couldn't do anything to help him. While her thoughts were wandering around the previous night's incident, a young man sat down across from her. It took her a moment to realize it was Toby.

"Hi, Toby," she said. "How are you this morning?"

"I'm okay," Toby said. He gave her that naturally dazzling smile of his. "You kind of look upset, though. Are _you_ okay?"

"Yeah, I guess," she said. "My friend had a bit of a…Well, he has schizophrenia."

"Do you mean Doug?" Toby asked. "He's the guy living with you, right?"

"Um, yeah."

"Was his schizophrenia acting up?"

Amelia was a little ashamed as she giggled. "I guess that's one way to put it," she said. Then she noticed that he hadn't brought any food with him. "Did you come in here just to talk to me?"

"Yeah," he said. "I've taken a liking to you. I don't know if it's just because you're the first female I ever saw, but for whatever reason, I think I like you the most. From now on, consider me your knight in shining armor. If you ever need someone to talk to, come to me."

Amelia smiled. "Thanks, Toby. That's very considerate."

"Oh, it's my pleasure." He took her hand and kissed it like he did when he first met her. "Hey, I happen to be wearing my swimming trunks today. Do you want to go swimming?"

"Right now?"

"Why not? It might make you feel better."

After Amelia finished her orange, she and Toby went to her apartment so that she could grab her swimsuit. She quietly opened her door and walked in. Doug wasn't in the living room. He must've still been in his bedroom. She didn't want to disturb him so she just went straight into her room to grab her swimsuit.

"This is a nice apartment," Toby said. "I especially enjoy the paint job in the living room. Turquoise is one of my favorite colors."

"Thanks," Amelia said. "Let's get going."

* * *

Amelia stepped out of the changing room feeling awkward. She hadn't shaved her legs for a while so they were covered in tiny dark hairs. She also felt uncomfortable with her belly being exposed. Her swimwear consisted of two pieces—a black bra piece and a black swimming skirt that stopped mid-thigh. Toby came up to her in nothing but his green swimming trunks. He wasn't particularly buff, but his shoulders and upper arms were nicely toned. Amelia usually didn't go for guys that were so fit, but he was kind of dorky so it was well-balanced out.

"Nice swimsuit," he said to her.

"Same to you. Can you even go into water? Won't it break you or something?"

"I don't know," Toby said. "Let's find out." He ran toward the pool and did a cannonball into the 6-feet-deep end. A few seconds later, his head resurfaced and he flailed around in the water.

"Are you okay, Toby?" Amelia asked.

"I can't swim!" Toby cried out.

The lifeguard on duty jumped into the pool and pulled Toby out who had a coughing fit for a good minute. The lifeguard advised him to stay near the 3-feet-deep end. Toby took his advice and crouched down in the water so that it went up to his shoulders. Amelia joined him and tried not to stare at his incredibly pale shoulders.

"I know you're staring," Toby said, grinning and cocking an eyebrow. "It's okay, though. I know you're into someone else."

"H-How would you know if I'm into _anyone?"_ Amelia asked, blushing a little.

"Stevie told me."

"How would _he_ know?"

"Oh, Stevie knows everything about everyone," Toby said. "I don't know how. He just does."

"Amelia!"

She turned around to see Nate entering the pool room in a pair of Felix the Cat swimming trunks. He sat down at the edge of the pool and let his thick legs hang down into the water.

"What a pleasant surprise!" he said. "Hey, didn't you wanna tell me about your talk with Grant?"

"Oh. Right," Amelia said. "Well, he denied my request so I'm just going to organize this myself."

"Organize what?" Toby asked.

"I want to go back into Aperture to retrieve Wheatley's friend."

"Count _me_ in," Toby said. "Sounds like a lot of fun."

"So I went and saw Missy in the early hours," Nate said in a quieter voice. "She's coming along alright but she needs more vitamins. She's been mildly starving. Arin is giving her a good diet, though."

"Well, that's good," Amelia said.

"I also asked him if he wanted to make an android body for Nora," Nate continued. "He said his team could get started on it today."

"That's even better," Amelia said, smiling. "You're really on your game today."

Nate shrugged modestly. "I do my best. Anyway, when do we wanna go back into Aperture?"

"As soon as possible," Amelia said. "Tomorrow night, we will have a meeting. The next day we will gather supplies. Then the on Friday, we will leave."

"So in three days?" Toby asked. "Sounds good to me."

"Keep it a secret from Wheatley and Doug, though," Amelia warned. "I want to succeed at giving them a surprise that they will enjoy."


	27. Chapter 27: Unecessary Preparation

Doug had tried to deal with his feelings the same way that he tried to deal with his schizophrenia. He had just told himself that love was just the release of dopamine in the brain. It was always about chemicals in the brain. Whenever he'd try to imagine it as just this, though, he'd think, "But she's so wonderful. How could these chemicals ever _not_ be released in my brain for her?" Since that tactic hadn't worked, he had decided to try something completely different. He had taken a shower and now he stood in the bathroom wearing nothing but a towel around his waist. He brushed his teeth as he tried to choose the right words he'd say to Amelia. Perhaps he would start off with "I like you a lot."

"Yeah, that won't make me sound juvenile at all," Doug mumbled with a mouthful of toothpaste. He rinsed his mouth and wiped it with a small hand towel. There were no voices bothering him this afternoon. He had been careful to take every dose of antipsychotic pills that he needed. He wanted to have a clear head for when he spoke to her.

"I _could_ just say it bluntly," he said. "Amelia, I…..I ….I can't even say the words when I'm alone."

He took off his towel and dried his hair with it. He put on a pair of black slacks and an indigo button-up shirt. He left the cuffs unbuttoned and he buttoned the shirt up all the way. He looked in the mirror and decided to unbutton the top two buttons. There. That looked much better. He looked at his face in the reflection and noticed the small, shallow wrinkles appearing at the corners of his eyes. He suddenly felt extremely discouraged.

"Who am I kidding?" he asked himself. "I don't have a snowball's chance in hell. I'm too old for her. But I can't just suffer in silence either. I survived GLaDOS and Wheatley on several occasions. I've had to crawl through air vents and squeeze myself through holes in the walls of chambers. I even got shot in the leg by a turret. I think I've earned a chance at happiness."

He gathered up his dirty clothes and put them in the clothes hamper before he went back to his room. He took his sketchbook out of his closet and tore out pages. It had been a while but he was still able to make origami lilies. They were colorless and dull but where else would he get flowers for her? He made stems and arranged them into a little bouquet. Then he took the flowers to the living room and he sat on the couch.

"I still have no idea what I'm going to say," Doug said. "Seeing me like this will probably be enough to let her know what I want to say."

There was suddenly a knock on the door. Doug froze. What should he do? He was living there but it wasn't his apartment.

"Amelia?" a girl's voice called. "It's me, Natalie! I was wondering if you wanted to go to Arin's to see Missy."

He couldn't just ignore this girl. Especially since he was waiting to tell Amelia something important. He walked over to the door and opened it. The girl was about Amelia's age with long straight hair that was the same color as Amelia's. Her face was rounder, though, and she looked a lot more outgoing. She looked at Doug and grinned.

"Did you make those paper flowers yourself?" she asked. "Are you going on a date tonight?"

"Uh, no," Doug said, embarrassed. He hadn't noticed that he'd brought the bouquet to the door with him. "Amelia is out right now."

"But you're expecting her."

"Well, this is her apartment."

"That's not what I mean." Her knowing smile didn't waver. "Come on, Mr. Rattmann. The way your dressed, the flowers, your freshly shaven face. You're planning out asking her out."

"First of all, don't call me 'Mr. Rattmann'," Doug said. "It makes me feel old. And please don't tell Amelia if you see her before I do."

"I think you have a good chance, Doug," Natalie said. "She likes you. And don't let the age difference get you down. How old are you?"

"I can't even remember my birthday," Doug muttered awkwardly.

"You look about thirty. Men your age marry women her age all the time. Or at least they did before the Combine showed up. Just tell her that I stopped by. And good luck with asking her out."

"Um, thanks."

Natalie started heading toward Arin's apartment and Doug shut the door.

"I guess she has a point," he said as he shuffled back to the couch. "Middle-aged men marry young twenty-something-year-olds all the time. I mean, I never approved of it much, but it's not like I'm just looking for a young piece of eye candy."

He sat on the couch for a half-hour but began to get impatient. He put on a _Mr. Show_ disk and waited another few hours. After getting through season two, he started to worry. Where was she? She had already been gone all day. It was almost five in the evening by this point. He looked through the DVDs and found a mini-series called _The 10__th__ Kingdom_. He started watching the first disk, all the while getting more and more paranoid. Should he go out and look for her? He only knew how to get to the cafeteria. Eventually, he fell asleep on the couch in the very early hours of the morning.


	28. Chapter 28: Hello, Madam

Amelia didn't even pick up any food for dinner. She sipped on a bottle of freshly made apple juice as she sat alone in the cafeteria. Toby had parted from her after lunch for an examination by Arin. She was trying to avoid talking to Arin so she wouldn't have to reject him. But she also didn't want to go back to her apartment so that Doug could have more alone time. So now she sat alone in the cafeteria with her hair damp and her wet swimsuit stuffed into a plastic bag. She knew it was bad that she wasn't eating but she just didn't have her appetite. She wasn't sure why and it really bothered her.

_I don't want to be weak for when I go back into Aperture,_ she thought. _I should really eat tomorrow._

As she worried about her eating habits, she was once again approached by a young man. This time, though, it was someone she didn't recognize. He was lanky and wore a dull gray suit. His hair was a brilliant shade of orange and he wore rectangular glasses over bright blue eyes. The young man was giving her a devious, little smirk when she looked up at him.

"Um, hello," she said. "Can I help you?"

"Hello, madam," the man said in a very familiar British voice. "I'm fairly new to this facility and I was wondering if you would be so kind as to let me sit with you."

"Wheatley?"

The young man laughed and sat down in front of her. "Surprised you, didn't I?" he said. "This is bloody brilliant! I can walk around wherever I want and I can pick things up with my hands. I have hands!"

"I'm sorry, Wheatley," Amelia said, grinning. "I can't get over the fact that you're sitting in front of me in a human body. You look great but why are you wearing glasses?"

"I wear them to reflect my extreme intellect," Wheatley claimed. "Anyway, I'm about to eat my very first meal."

Amelia looked down at Wheatley's plate. "Is that a Black Forest cake?"

"I'm not sure what kind of cake it is but I wanted something tasty for my first meal." He used his fork to cut off a bit and he put it into his mouth. His closed his eyes. "Mmmmmmmmm! This is so good! It's incredible! How have I survived up until now without taste buds?! Um…How do I chew?"

Amelia felt her eyes involuntarily widen. "'H…How do you chew?' You don't _know?"_

"Not at all," Wheatley said. "Do I just move my mouth up and down? Is it _that_ easy?"

"Yes." She watched Wheatley awkwardly chew the piece of cake.

"Now what?" he asked with a mouthful of cake.

"Uh…Swallow it?"

"How?"

"It should be able to slide down the back of your throat once you've chewed it up enough."

"So it's like swallowing spit?"

"I didn't know you have that but yes. It's like swallowing your own spit."

Wheatley swallowed the bite and coughed a little. "That was an odd feeling," he said. "But I did it! I know how to eat now! Bloody brilliant!"

Amelia giggled. "You're so excited," she said.

"Of course I am!" Wheatley exclaimed I'm human! Or at least human _enough_." He shoveled more cake into his mouth and Amelia watched him with amusement. Frosting and crumbs were smeared around his cheeks and chin. He was really going to town on this cake.

"I'm going to grab you some napkins," Amelia said.

"I could just wipe it on my sleeve."

"Not while you're wearing such a nice suit." She stood up and headed for the condiment stand. She grabbed half a dozen napkins and turned back around. She still couldn't believe that the red-haired man stuffing cake into his mouth was Wheatley. He looked like anyone else in the cafeteria. She suddenly had a fun idea and she didn't want to wait for it. She hurried back to the table and shoved the napkins into Wheatley's free hand.

"Hurry up with your cake," she said. "I have a surprise for you."

"Oh, not another surprise, love," Wheatley said.

"You'll like this one," Amelia claimed. "I promise."

Wheatley finished up his slice of cake and put it on a conveyer belt that took dirty dishes to the sinks. Amelia led him to Arin's apartment first, hoping that it would be easier to find her way from there. As they strolled along, they noticed that the hallways were becoming emptier by the minute. She was surprised by how late it already was. She led Wheatley down a series of hallways and around many corners. She was pleased to find that she had remembered how to get to their destination fairly well. It didn't take them long before they arrived at the emergency elevator.

"A lift?" Wheatley asked. "Where does it lead?"

"If you keep your voice down then I will show you." She pressed the call button and the doors opened.

"This is the oddest lifts I've ever seen," Wheatley said as he sat down in one of the four middle seats.

Amelia pressed the button marked "S" and sat down next to him. The doors closed and they began their ascent. As they elevator slowly accelerated more, Amelia watched Wheatley's expression change from curious to anxious. He eventually grabbed Amelia's arm and she giggled a little.

"I-Is it getting faster?" Wheatley asked. "It feels like the lift is getting faster."

"It is," Amelia said. "But it doesn't go any faster than this. Just wait until we go back down."

"Why does it have to go so fast, though?" Just after he asked this, he felt the elevator slow down. He sighed with relief.

When they stopped, Amelia pulled down the periscope and studied the desert above her. Everything seemed to be clear so she pushed the eye piece back up and pressed the "S" button again. The walls disappeared as they were pushed up to the surface. The four corners of the lift came up with them as frames to hold up the ceiling and periscope. Wheatley seemed very distracted by the scenery so Amelia pulled him out of his seat and had the elevator disappear into the ground again. She led him over to the deserted car, but instead of sitting inside she climbed up onto the roof.

"Do you just want to stand down there or would you like to join me?" she asked Wheatley.

Without a word, Wheatley climbed up onto the top of the car and sat next to her. Amelia was beginning to worry. She had never seen him be so quiet for so long. But then she noticed that he was specifically staring up at the stars.

"Are you alright?" she asked him gently.

He nodded. "Yeah," he said. "It's just sort of odd for me to be looking _up_ at the stars for a change."

"I bet it feels good, doesn't it?"

"It sure feels _better_." He sighed heavily.

"Are you missing Nora again?"

"There isn't a second that goes by that I _don't_ miss her."

He was silent for a few minutes and Amelia stared around at the landscape. The stars and the navy-black sky gave the mesas a blue glow. She remembered traveling out to the desert to visit different mesas and caves. She would always complain that it was too hot out, and her mother would always complain that it was too hot out, and her mother would bring extra water in her backpack. Tonight, though, it was pretty cold out. She was thankful that she was wearing a long-sleeved shirt.

Wheatley suddenly started sobbing. Amelia was startled since he had been so quiet.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"I should have been nicer to her!" Wheatley cried. "I was terrible to her! I was horrid!" Tears were actually rolling down from his eyes. Amelia was fascinated by this but she tried not to let it distract her.

"Don't beat yourself up over it," she said. "She knew that you didn't want to act the way you did."

"It's not like the mainframe was controlling me!" Wheatley sobbed. "It only made me want to test. It didn't make me tell her that she was useless or make me try to crush her! She's probably dead now! GLaDOS has probably ripped her apart by now!"

"Don't say that," Amelia said, putting an arm around his shoulders. "I'm sure she's fine. She was able to elude GLaDOS before." Despite her words, though, she was beginning to worry that maybe something _had_ happened to her. If that was the case, then they would be going into Aperture and risking their lives for nothing.

"Even if she _is_ alive—and I highly doubt it—she would never forgive me for what I did." Wheatley touched his fingertips to his wet cheek. "What is this? Am I crying?"

"Yeah," Amelia said. "I'm actually impressed with the amount of detail that Arin and his crew put into your body."

Wheatley sniffled and wiped his tears away with his sleeve. "I don't enjoy crying," he said. "Being sad is one thing but crying is embarrassing. I'm all wet and disgusting now."

"Nobody really likes to cry," Amelia said, "but sometimes you feel better afterwards."

"Well, I never want to cry again," Wheatley said. He sniffled again but he seemed to be in a better mood. "You know what? You've given me a second chance. And I'm certainly not going to waist it by sulking. No, I'm going to enjoy this new body. I'm going to enjoy my new life here. Thank you for all that you've done, Amelia. I really appreciate it."

Amelia smiled. "It's been my pleasure, Wheatley," she said.


	29. Chapter 29: Finally Facing Feelings

Amelia got home in the early hours of the morning. Wheatley was staying in Arin's apartment, but before they had parted he had thanked her about a billion times for making him feel better. Now she was exhausted and just wanted to go to bed, but she froze when she noticed Doug sleeping on the couch. He was wearing a neat, clean shirt and there was a bouquet of paper flowers resting beside his hand on the couch. Amelia's face turned red and her insides felt jittery. It was obvious what his intentions were. She wasn't sure if she should wake him up. She really wanted to talk to him about this, but she was so very tired. Eventually, she just decided to gently shake him awake.

"Hmmmm," Doug groaned as he slowly awoke. He looked up at Amelia and his eyes widened. He sat straight up on the couch, glanced at the paper flowers, then back to her and he blushed. "I, um….You see, I-I was going to, uh….You know…."

"Come with me," she interrupted. She started heading for her bedroom.

"W-Why? D-D-Do you, uh—Do you need something?" he struggled to say.

"I just enjoy your company. Now get your butt over here."

She stopped by the bathroom briefly to take off her bra so she could be comfortable while she slept. The cotton of the long-sleeved shirt felt nice on her breasts. The bra had gotten so constricting and uncomfortable. It felt liberating to take it off. She went into her room to find Doug standing there awkwardly.

"Take off the formal shirt," she commanded.

Doug cleared his throat nervously. "Um, w-why?"

"So it doesn't wrinkle," she says simply. She pulled back her blankets and climbed into bed. "Do you want to cuddle and then fall asleep with me?"

Doug was a flustered mess. He kept stammering but couldn't get a coherent sentence out.

"Listen, Doug," Amelia said. "I know why you were all dressed up. I know why you had the paper flowers. I know why you waited for me in the living room. And I know that no matter what you say, you _do_ want to cuddle and fall asleep with me in my bed. I'm very tired right now so could you please just take off the fancy shirt and get under the covers with me?"

Doug's fingers trembled as he clumsily tried to unbutton his shirt. Amelia sat up and reached over to help. She got two and looked up at him, but she stopped as she noticed that he was staring at her. There was something in those blue eyes of his that she couldn't quite name. There was an extremely brief moment where they both knew what was going to happen next. And then it happened. Doug leaned down and Amelia moved forward so that they could meet lips. This kiss was much better than their first. It was a two-way kiss this time. Doug's lips were soft and he tasted like the dozen mints he had eaten to ensure that his breath would smell great for tonight. Amelia found herself grabbing the front of his shirt and pulling him down with her. She was now lying on her back while a confused Doug was on top of her. He was confused but he didn't dislike this. He put a hand on the back of her neck as he got more into the kiss. She pulled him closer to her and rolled him over so that now _she_ was on top of _him_. She finished unbuttoning his shirt and he took his arms out of the sleeves. He rested his hands on her hips now and gently pulled her waist closer to his. He felt a primal instinct pumping through him, and it reminded him of when he would just lose it and act like an animal. But this felt _so_ much better. She was real and warm and comforting while Aperture had felt so opposite. He wanted this feeling to last an eternity as his hands slowly moved down.

Amelia finished the kiss, though, and looked down at him with a smile. "I think that's enough for now," she said. She could feel Doug's bulge in his slacks, but she managed to control herself so that they didn't move too fast with this relationship.

"I love you!" Doug said in a rush. It felt good to finally get the words out. "I love you, Amelia! I-I've been trying to find a way to tell you all day, but I'm just going to fucking say it! Alright? I love you and I….I n-need you in my life. I need you to know how god damn important you are to me, and that I wouldn't be able to have a second chance in society without your help."

Amelia got off of him and lied down next to him. She gave him a kiss on the nose, and said, "I love you, too. Let's get some sleep now. You look exhausted." Then she snuggled her face into his chest and fell asleep in his arms.

Doug was still extremely astonished. _What the hell just happened?_ he thought. _Is this real? Did I….Did I really just make out with her? Did I really confess my feelings for her? Wait, she did the same for me….Oh, __**please**__ tell me this is real. She's so warm under the covers. I can still taste her on my lips. _He couldn't believe his luck yet again. Who could have guessed that his savior would turn out to be the love of his life? He tried to go to sleep but he had an uncomfortable swelling in the front of his pants that wouldn't go away. There was a wild impulse to just unclothe her and seduce her, but she was already asleep and he didn't want to disturb her. He settled for moving her hair away from her face and kissing her lightly on the forehead before practically forcing himself to fall asleep.

* * *

It was nice to have Doug sitting in the cafeteria with her again. They hadn't spoken much that morning, though, and their silence was uncomfortable. It mostly felt awkward because they hadn't really mentioned what had happened the previous night. Doug was trying not to pig out this morning and had a modest-sized bowl of Frosted Flakes. Amelia was able to eat more today. She had a plate of French toast with cinnamon mixed into it.

"Amelia?" Doug suddenly said.

She looked up from her meal. She already knew what he was going to talk about. "Hm?"

"Um…..Could we talk about last night?" he asked. "I guess I'm little confused about what happened. I mean, that actually _happened_, right?"

Amelia nodded, nervously looking down at her food.

"How long did you know?"

"Know what?"

"How long did you know that I liked you?" Doug laughed a little. "I sound like a kid. I have to substitute 'like' for the other L-word."

"To be honest, I didn't know until I saw you sleeping on the couch last night."

"So you really had no idea? I wonder how long it would have taken for you to realize if I hadn't told you."

"Well, you didn't know that _I_ liked _you_."

"I had a suspicion," he said, smiling a little. The smile didn't last long as he looked down at his cereal. "So...where do we go from here?"

"Um…I guess if you want to…..If you want to go steady, we can."

"Do _you?"_

"I wouldn't mind."

Doug smiled again but he kept his gaze on his bowl. "Sounds good to me then."

"Hey there!" Toby said as he suddenly pulled up a chair to their small table. He turned to Doug. "You must be Doug Rattmann," he said. "My name is Toby." He held out his hand and Doug shook it. He noticed that Toby seemed very likeable even though they'd only just met. He was nicer than any other person he'd met in this facility—excluding his Amelia, of course.

"I don't know if you can tell," Amelia said to Doug, "but Toby is that android I told you about."

"You've got to be kidding," Doug said, eyebrows rising. "He looks like any ordinary human."

"Look at my pupils," Toby said. "You'll see it."

Doug didn't particularly like eye contact, but he did notice the difference in Toby's eyes just from a glance. "That's such a small detail," he said. "You're very well-built—not to mention well-programmed."

"You flatter me, Doug," Toby said jokingly. "I mean, I know I'm awesome but there's no need for a reminder."

"Toby!" Wheatley called from around the checkout station. "Hello? Where did you go? I don't know where to sit!"

"Do you mind if Wheatley and I join you guys here?" Toby asked.

Amelia looked at Doug who didn't look comfortable with the idea of Wheatley sitting at their table. Then she watched the realization form on his expression. "Wait, what do you mean about Wheatley sitting here?"

"Did you think they were only going to have a body for _me_ and not the only other AI in here?" Toby asked.

"Go ahead and bring him over," Amelia said.

Toby stood and went to retrieve Wheatley.

"Behave yourself, Doug," Amelia said in a low voice. "You have both been given a second choice so I think you should make up."

"Okay, I'll try to play nice," Doug said. "But I'm only doing it for you."

Wheatley followed Toby to the table and Doug's eyes widened in surprise. Then he suddenly started laughing.

"What's so funny?" Wheatley asked. He was already annoyed with him.

"Sorry," Doug said. "It's just that they didn't hit too far off the mark of what you used to look like."

"Really?" Wheatley asked. "I did give them some details that Nora had told me about my human body."

"It's really weird to hear your voice coming out of that body, Wheatley."

"Same with you," Wheatley said. "I didn't get the chance to mention this the other day, but you cleaned up very well."

"Thanks," Doug said. "I kind of appreciate that."

"Hey, Amelia," Arin said, coming up to the table. "How are you doing?"

"I'm okay," Amelia said. "A little tired."

"Well, you better get more sleep for the next couple of days," Arin blabbed. "Anyway, when is the meeting tonight?"

"Around seven," Amelia said. "Spread the word."

"Okay. Nate said he would be around soon to look at Missy so I really need to get going. I'll tell him when the meeting is." Arin left and Doug got a bad feeling about this meeting.

"What's the meeting about?" Doug asked.

"Nothing important," Amelia said. She tried to come up with a good lie but nothing believable came to mind.

"Really, what's it about?" Wheatley asked. "Could _I_ go to it?"

"No," Amelia said. "It's only for members of the organization."

"Can't _I_ be a member of the organization?" Wheatley asked.

"Amelia, what are you hiding?" Doug asked.

Amelia sighed. "I guess you would have found out eventually," she said. "I'm putting together a team to….go back into Aperture."

"What? Why?!" Doug demanded. He was suddenly angry with her. "Why would you ever want to go back into that hellhole?!"

"We left some very important equipment there that we need to retrieve." It wasn't a great excuse and she didn't like referring to Nora as equipment, but Doug didn't seem to suspect that she was lying.

"Do you _absolutely_ need this equipment?" he inquired. "Is it really worth risking your _life_ for it?"

"It's vital that we get it back."

"Well, what is it?" Wheatley asked. "What could be so important?"

"It's confidential," was all that Amelia would say.

"Amelia, you really don't want to go back there," Wheatley said. "I'm serious, love. _She_ won't just let you run in, grab whatever you want, and run out. It doesn't work like that in Aperture. Not at all. She doesn't care for humans that evade her. Doug and I should know all about this by now."

"For the first time in a while, I have to agree with Wheatley," Doug said. "She'll either kill you or make you test, and I'm sure you don't want either."

"How about this?" Wheatley chimed in again. "Why don't we make a new whatever it is that's so important? Can't you do that? _I'll_ help you make a new one. I'd like to consider myself to be pretty handy. Or look elsewhere for a new one. Anything but going back to that prison would be a fantastic alternative."

"This piece of equipment is irreplaceable," Amelia said.

"Well then, let me go with you," Doug said. "You need me to navigate your way around the facility."

"Bring me, too!" Wheatley said. "I really want to repay you for bringing me back down to earth."

"_Neither_ of you are going," Amelia insisted. "I don't want to risk anything happening to you."

"But you're willing to risk your own life?" Doug asked.

"I'm going to go to Arin's to see how Missy is doing." Amelia got up and left her food on the table. She hurried out into the hall but Doug quickly caught up with her.

"What are you trying to hide so badly?" he asked, walking up next to her.

"Nothing, Doug," Amelia said.

"Then why won't you let me come with you to Aperture?"

"Because it would kill me if anything happened to you." She stopped and looked at him. "Now that I know how you feel about me, there's no way I could bring you back to that personal hell."

Doug glared at her. He desperately wanted to say something to her about how he would feel even worse if something happened to _her_. But he felt that if he kept arguing with her he might start crying. He swallowed a lump in his throat and said shakily, "We'll discuss this later. Go ahead and go to Arin's. While you're there, you might as well tell him about us." Then he turned around and headed back for the cafeteria, wiping his eyes discretely.


	30. Chapter 30: Bad News

**Rare Author's Note: I've been meaning to tell all of you that I'm sorry about how long I'd gone without posting until about a week ago. I was taking a scheduled break from writing when my ex-boyfriend suddenly died. I still don't know exactly how he died, but apparently he'd been dead for about four days in his apartment until someone had found him and they couldn't have an open coffin visitation. I'm still in the anger stage of grieving. I tried to write after that but nothing felt right for a while.**

**Anyway, I just wanted to tell you guys that I appreciate the favorites and the story followers. It really motivates me to keep you know what motivates me more? Reviews! Every review really means something to me. But if you do happen to have some criticism, please explain to me what I'm doing wrong and give examples. I've had some anonymous trolls tell me that my writing is "just bad" and that my characters are awful. That hurts. But I do take real criticism into consideration. Thanks for reading. You're all awesome and have a great day.**

Amelia sat on Arin's couch while Missy rested her head in her lap. She was such a needy dog but it was adorable. She looked up at Amelia with her clear blue eyes and waged her tail when the woman looked down at her.

"How long did you say she has until the babies come?" she asked.

"A week maybe," Nate said. "Two weeks tops. She's looking pretty healthy, too. Unfortunately, I can't sneak an ultrasound in here so we can't actually see how the pups are doin' inside. Judging by the mama, though, they should be cute as cute can be."

"I'm sure they will be," Arin said. "Man. A week. I'm getting pretty excited. I haven't had a puppy since I was a kid."

"I haven't _delivered_ a puppy in about twenty years," Nate said. "And never any of such a large breed. This should be a breeze, though. Don't worry." He packed up his large doctor's bag and stroked Missy's back. "So that meeting is at seven this evening?"

"That's right," Arin said. He sat down next to Amelia and pet Missy's head. "Are you leaving now?"

"Yeah," Nate said. "I figured I should spend some more time with my son before we go back to Aperture. You know, just in case. Sorry for being morbid there. See y'all at the meeting."

It was a little awkward after Nate left. Amelia knew that she should talk to Arin but she couldn't quite get the right words out. She kept silent as she sat petting Missy. Arin had put in a movie called _What About Bob?_ so they watched that for a while.

_Say something to him,_ Amelia thought. _He needs to know that you're with Doug now._

"So you're really serious about going back to Aperture?" Arin asked.

"Of course I am," Amelia said. "We need to get Nora back. I feel bad for her and Wheatley really misses her. Not to mention how she and Doug seemed to make a good team."

"I guess maybe we could give Doug, Nora, and Wheatley their own apartment once Nora gets put into her android body," Arin said. "Then Doug wouldn't be bothering you."

"Doug doesn't bother me, Arin," Amelia said. She wanted to make it very clear to him that she was getting fed up with his attitude toward Doug. "I need to talk to you about something."

"What?" Arin had a feeling that he already knew what it was going to be.

"I'm not interested in a relationship with you," she said carefully. She hoped she was choosing the right words.

Arin stared down at is socks, not saying a word.

"Arin?"

"Are you interested in Doug?" he asked.

Amelia hesitated but that's all Arin needed as an answer. "It's a little complicated between Doug and I," she said. "But basically yeah."

"Why?" he asked. He still wouldn't look at her. "He's too old for you. He's like forty years old or something."

"I just….I like him a lot," Amelia explained. "He's really nice to me and I like sitting on the couch with him while we watch old TV shows. I just generally enjoy being around him."

"Has he touched you in anyway?"

"Arin, that's an extremely personal question!" she yelled at him.

"Well, has he _kissed_ you?"

She looked away. "Yeah."

"When?"

"Twice. Once in aperture and….again last night."

"In Aperture?" Arin asked. He looked at her with a pleading expression. "Really? You were already together at that point?"

"We weren't together," Amelia snapped. "He just….He kissed me when I gave him the antipsychotic pills. He wasn't thinking. It was sort of an accident and I thought nothing of it at the time."

"Still, though," Arin said angrily. "You should have told me."

"Maybe I should go. You seem kind of heated right now." Amelia stood up and walked toward the door.

"I just can't believe that you fell for that crazy, old psychopath."

Amelia turned to glare at him and he put his hand over his own mouth.

"Oh god!" he said. "I didn't mean to sink that low! It just sort of slipped out!"

"Well, you said it," Amelia said. "And I'm leaving." She slammed his door on her way out.

"Oh hey! There you are!" Toby said from down the hall. He jogged up to her with that enchanting smile of his. "How are you doing? Wheatley's been looking around for you."

"You haven't told him why we're going into Aperture, have you?" Amelia asked.

"No, of course not," Toby said. "You think I would ruin the surprise? He just wants to hang out. I mean, he _does_ keep asking about the mission but he's not getting anything out of me."

"I'm glad I can count on you, Toby," she said.

"It's like I said. I'm your knight in shining armor."

"Well, what did he have in mind?"

"He just said he wanted to do 'human things.'"

Amelia thought for a second and rashly decided, "We should go to the gymnasium. We could play soccer or something. I bet he'd like to use his legs."


	31. Chapter 31: Dodge Ball

In the gymnasium, they were about to start a game of dodge ball. Amelia hadn't played dodge ball in a long time so she thought this ought to be fun for her as well as Toby and Wheatley.

"Do you guys need me to explain the rules?" she asked them.

"Yeah, I don't know anything about this game," Toby said.

"Well, there are two teams and each gets one-half of the gym to move around in. Everyone starts out at opposite ends and at the signal of the referee, everyone runs to the middle where the dodge balls are. You can't cross over to the other team's side. You need to throw the balls at members of the other team to get them off the playing field. Players can only get back in the game if one of their teammates catches a ball that an opponent throws. If you catch a ball that an opponent throws, then that opponent is out. And no hitting people in the head or else you're out. Last team standing wins."

"Sounds violent," Toby said.

"Do you have any questions?" Amelia asked.

"Um, yeah," Wheatley said. "I'm just generally confused about the whole sport. Are we basically just throwing balls at each other? I _am_ rather pleased that the balls will be bringing pain to the humans for a change, though. You humans are always kicking them around or smacking them against the ground. Most of the time it's for fun, too."

"Wheatley, just because you were once in a spherical shape doesn't mean you can relate to sports balls," Amelia said.

"You can't tell me what to relate to. I know exactly how they feel. That is, I would if they were sentient."

"Are you about ready to start, guys?" Mikey asked. He was wearing sweatpants that almost looked new and tennis shoes that had perfect white rubber soles—the laces weren't even frayed. It was obvious that he didn't work out much. But then again, neither did Amelia.

"Yeah, we're just about ready," Amelia said. "Is there a team we can join?"

"If you guys all want to be on the same team, I think we can move a few people around." Mikey went to talk to the referee.

"Mikey's such a nice guy," Toby said. "I hope people aren't taking advantage of him."

"He's still going on the mission, right?" Amelia asked.

"Oh, of course!" Toby said. "He says he wouldn't give up the chance to go back into Aperture. He wants to do some extensive comparisons between Aperture's technology and Black Mesa's."

"I can imagine that he would."

"Can we play this game now?" Wheatley whined. "I'm getting very impatient now. I'm ready to display my athletics talents in this body."

"Yeah, I can't wait to see that," Amelia said, trying not to make her sarcasm too obvious.

The referee suddenly blew his whistle and yelled, "Attention everyone! Get together in your teams and take your side!"

"Guys, over here!" Mikey called.

They hurried to their side with Mikey and stood against the wall. There was a distinct red line that divided the gymnasium into two sections. About a dozen dodge balls were carefully placed on the line. Everyone was prepared to sprint forward and snatch up these balls. The rules required each person to be touching the wall so most people were only barely touching it with their fingertips.

"Ready for this, Toby?" Mikey asked. "Do you think you can handle this?"

"Oh, I can handle it," Toby said. He was all ready to grab one of the rubber balls.

"Guys, don't run straight for the balls right away," Amelia quickly explained. "You could easily get hit with everyone up there at once."

"Yeah, I think I might wait in the back for a bit," Wheatley said. "I'll be like a shadow waiting for the right moment to strike. And also waiting for a ball to roll toward me. I don't feel like fighting someone for a rubber ball. I also don't feel like getting hit in the face with one. I imagine that would really hurt in this body."

"Well, I'm going to just go for it," Toby said. "I think I can dodge them."

"That _is_ the idea, isn't it?" Wheatley said. "It is called dodge ball. I imagine a lot of dodging would be involved."

"Yeah, that's why it isn't called 'wait-in-the-back ball'," Toby said with a grin.

Before Wheatley could argue, the referee blew his whistle and almost everyone rushed for the center. Toby was pretty damn fast. He snatched up a ball, threw it, and hit someone's shoulder as they flinched away. Wheatley seemed a bit anxious. No one was trying to hit him yet but he still flinched when someone in front of him got hit. A ball bounced off of a teammate and rolled toward him.

"Hey!" Amelia called to him. "Toss that over here!"

Wheatley picked up the ball and looked ahead of him. There was a large young man on the other side that had no one between him and the blue-eyed android. Wheatley pulled back his arm and threw the ball as hard as he could. He just barely hit the guy's shin who shot Wheatley a glare before he shuffled over to the side of the playing field where the people who are out go. Wheatley grinned.

"HAHA! I did it!" he said excitedly. "I bloody did it! I hit someone!"

"Wheatley!" Amelia called. "Watch out!"

Too late. A ball hit him square in the chest. He doubled over and gasped for breath. The air had been forced out of his robotic lungs. "Man alive!" he exclaimed. "That bloody hurt!" He started coughing.

"Are you okay?" Amelia asked. She hurried to him and rubbed his back. She noticed a ball flying toward him again from the corner of her eye. She stepped out in front of Wheatley and let the ball strike her lower back. She whipped around and saw Alex smirking. He must have still been mad about Doug ranking above him despite his mental disorder. "Come on, Wheatley." She helped Wheatley up and walked with him to the side of the gym. "Hey, Toby!"

Toby side-stepped a ball and looked at her.

"Hit the guy wearing the yellow jersey!"

"What's a jersey?"

"Hit the guy with the yellow shirt!"

"Got it!" Toby weaved through the other players toward a ball that was almost right on the line. He reached for the ball but almost ran into someone of the opposing team. It was Nate who grinned at Toby.

"You gonna hit Alex?" he asked.

"The yellow shirt guy?"

"Yup."

"Then yes."

Nate grabbed the ball and quickly spun almost 180 degrees so he could throw the ball at Alex. It hit his hip and made him stumble. Alex looked toward Toby and glared at him before he limped over to the side of the gym. Nate laughed. "Sorry I stole your hit," he said. "But at least he thought it was you and he's out. I just couldn't help myself."

"As long as the job got done." He turned and smiled at Amelia who gave him a thumbs-up.

"There you go," Amelia said to Wheatley. "We got our revenge."

"Stupid human game," Wheatley grumbled. "This is so savage! What kind of sadist would come up with this? It's not very creative, you know. It's just a bunch of humans throwing things at each other. It should be called _war_. It would make more sense."

"I think it _is_ called that in different cultures. And would you believe me if I told you that they have kids play this in school?"

"Are you humans trying to turn your children into soldiers?!" Wheatley said. "How can you make children attack each other in such a primitive way?! It's a wonder that the aliens were able to conquer this planet when you humans are so fierce! I mean, why should children even play sports? There was too much violence on this planet even before the aliens showed up. Shouldn't all of your wars between each other have been—I dunno—_practice_ for a war between worlds? How could any of you have died with so much practice?"

Amelia looked down at the floor, trying to hide her sudden anger. Wheatley's eyes widened when he realized what he'd said wrong.

"Oh! No—I-I didn't mean that! I swear! It—Well, it just sort of, um, slipped out! You know what I meant, right?"

Amelia laughed a little and nodded. She knew that Wheatley didn't—and probably wouldn't ever—understand. "It's just a human thing I guess. Sports, I mean. You wouldn't understand." She watched Toby run across the playing field and scoop up balls in his arms. "Toby sure seems to have adapted quickly, though."

Someone caught a ball and Wheatley was back in the game suddenly. Amelia wished him luck and he quickly ran toward Toby.

"Hey, pal!" Wheatley said. "Um, would you mind defending me for a bit? Just for a bit, of course! At least until Amelia is back in the game."

"Sure thing!" Toby said. He threw one of the balls that he was hoarding at an opponent but accidentally hit someone in the head. The referee whistled at him and he dropped all but one of the dodge balls he was holding. "Oops. I guess you're on your own." He handed the remaining ball to Wheatley. "Good luck."

Wheatley glanced around at his teammates. Including him, there were only four people left on his team. The other team still had about ten more people. Wheatley jumped out of the way of a ball but it ended up hitting a teammate. Now only three left.

"Wheatley!" Amelia called. "Catch a ball! Get me back in so I can help you!"

"I don't think I can!" Wheatley called back to her. He turned back to the other team and locked eyes with Nate. Nate smiled at him with a dodge ball in his hand. He winked and carefully tossed the ball to Wheatley. The android almost fumbled the catch but he managed to hold onto it. Nate happily strolled over to the side and Amelia hurried to Wheatley.

"You did it!" she said.

"Here, take this," Wheatley said with undeserved pride. "I've had my glory in the game. Perhaps I could give you a few pointers?"

"Nah, I think I can do this," she said. She threw the ball but missed her target by a foot.

"Are you sure you don't want my help?" Wheatley asked. "You've seen my skill. Didn't you see how I caught that ball to get you back in?"

"You've done a great job already," Amelia said, trying not to giggle. "I need to learn through experience."

"Yeah, I guess we can't _all_ be naturals at athletics. Good idea, sports. The humans really knew what they were doing when they invented this game."


	32. Chapter 32: Scattered Thoughts

There were a lot of things that Doug missed. One of these was when he would go to a diner down the street from his apartment after work and have a nice home-cooked style meal. He had become very familiar with the staff and one of his only friends had been the manager named Ben. Ben was just a little bit younger than Doug and had mostly earned his title by being the owner's son. He hadn't been very good at getting the rest of the staff to listen to him, but he was very friendly with the customers. His face had been very young but he'd always worn a bit of stubble on his round chin as a sort of style. Doug had often wondered if Ben had noticed his absence while he had been trapped in Aperture, but now he wondered if Ben was even still alive.

Ben hadn't been the only reason that he missed the diner. He had also enjoyed just watching the people that came in. Families would sit at a table and discuss how the day had gone for each of them. Coworkers would gather around and they would complain about how Mrs. So-and-so wouldn't shut up about her imaginary medical problems or how the boss would degrade them in front of each other. Young couples would sit across from each other at a booth and talk about their futures together. Doug now wished that he and Amelia could have met in an ordinary world where they could sit around and discuss their ordinary future together. But then again, Doug probably would have been too shy to ever talk to her—not to mention the fact that he was so old now that she would never look twice at him in an ordinary world anyway.

Another thing that Doug missed was going for a walk around his neighborhood. Sure, he would have hallucinations sometimes of mangled corpses on the side of the street or rabid dogs sprinting toward him—he would flinch and people would stare at him—but the fresh air now felt like a luxury. He especially missed that feeling right at the end of autumn when the air was so chilly that you need a jacket and scarf. Bundling up in the cold made him feel so cozy. And coming home to have a nice cup of hot chocolate made it even better.

He thought about these things as he made his way to the cafeteria. He was hoping to run into Amelia for lunch. He wanted to apologize for getting so angry earlier. The thought of him or any loved one going back into Aperture scared him beyond reason, though. There had to be some way to keep her from leaving. What was so damn important that she needed to go back? She knew how dangerous it was!

_She doesn't understand,_ Doug thought. _She just doesn't understand the hell I went through. Years and years of being chased and tormented by a rogue computer; only being able to eat the stale food that I could scavenge; being almost completely alone all the time. And the hellish hallucinations sure didn't help him._

He made it to the cafeteria and just grabbed a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with milk. Talking to Amelia was top priority. He could eat more for dinner to make up for the small lunch. He checked out the food by himself for the first time and looked around. Amelia was sitting near the far corner of the room. Wheatley and Toby were sitting with her, and Wheatley looked like he was talking nonstop. _Nothing different there,_ Doug thought. He brought his food over to the table and sat down across from Amelia.

"Hi," he said awkwardly.

"Doug, have you ever played dodge ball?" Wheatley asked. "We just played a bit ago and it was terrific! I'm proud to say that I was a big part of the team." He looked so smug. "Yeah, I got a lot of people out. I think this new body and my amazing strategies made a good combination on the field."

_"You_ played dodge ball?" Doug asked.

"Why do you say it like that?" Wheatley snapped.

Doug saw the expression on Amelia's face, and said, "Nothing. I didn't mean anything by it. Anyway, I want to talk to you, Amelia."

"Um, sure," Amelia said. "Wheatley, Toby? Could we be left alone for a while?"

"Yeah, I'm done with my food anyway," Toby said. "Come on, Wheatley. Let's go do android things."

"What are 'android things'?" Wheatley asked as he followed Toby away from the table.

"Okay," Doug started. "I shouldn't have gotten so angry earlier. I handled that kind of poorly. But if you knew just what I had been through while I was trapped there, you would understand why I don't want you to go back."

"I understand that what you went through was horrific," Amelia said. "And I understand why you wouldn't want me going back to that. But I have to—"

"You know, I have this scenario that's been playing in my head all morning," Doug interrupted. "It's a nightmare in which all of your colleagues that go in with you are killed and you are the only living human in Aperture left. You are hunted by GLaDOS day and night, and you get more and more lost in there until you slip and fall down an unfathomably deep hole. All the while, I'm just pacing around down here—miles and miles away from Aperture—not knowing why it has been months since you left. What happened to her? What happened to my sweet Amelia? I may never know."

"Doug, that's not going to happen," Amelia insisted.

"You don't know that."

"You're just being para—" Amelia cut off her own sentence and looked away.

"Paranoid?" Doug asked. "So what if I am? It's not just my schizophrenia. I know what could happen down there."

Amelia didn't respond. She stared around at everyone else who lived virtually carefree lives. She heard Doug sigh heavily.

"I'm not going to change your mind at all, am I?" he asked. "And I know you have a secret motive that you're keeping from me, but that's okay. I need to accept that you're tenacious."

Amelia was relieved to see him smiling at her when she turned back to him. But she could tell that he still didn't like the plan.


	33. Chapter 33: Oliver's Army

**Author's Note: Just a quick little note here. The song featured is called "Oliver's Army" by Elvis Costello. Anyway, enjoy the chapter. Sorry for keeping you waiting.**

Chell looked at herself in the mirror. She was finally able to wear different clothes. She had burned that stupid blue jumpsuit that had been the standard uniform for citizens. Jumpsuits had become a strong symbol of enslavement for her. But she'd kept the orange one. It had clad her during her trials in Aperture, and it was now stuffed into her backpack along with all of her new clothes. Today, she was wearing cargo pants with four deep pockets on the legs and a black t-shirt. The weather was starting to get warmer so she would need to find a pair of shorts soon.

She looked at her abs and frowned. She had developed a bit more of a tummy in the past couple of years. _How does that t-shirt even fit you?_ GLaDOS mocked in her head. It was silly that that artificial intelligent computer could still get under her skin. She pulled the shirt down more to ensure that her tummy wouldn't show.

Someone was playing music down the hall of the ghetto apartment complex that they lived in. _"Oliver's army is here to staaay. Oliver's army is on their waaay."_

"And I would rather be anywhere else but here todaaaaaaay," Chell quietly sang along as she tied up her hair in a ponytail. She enjoyed singing out loud now. She generally enjoyed any opportunity to use her voice at all. When she had first found other people, her vocal chords had been so under-used that she had barely been able to say "hello."

There was suddenly a knock on her apartment door and she rushed to answer it. It was her new best friend Ben. Ben looked about five years younger than he actually was—thirty-seven years old—so he was working on growing a beard that couldn't quite get longer than just stubble. His short hair was brown and very curly, and he wore thick-rimmed glasses. He smiled at Chell when he saw her outfit. "Are you enjoying the sense of independence with your clothes?" he asked. "It's nice to just wear a t-shirt again."

"Yeah, it is," Chell said. She couldn't remember the last time she'd worn a t-shirt without a jumpsuit over it. "Are you packed?"

"I packed all that I can carry," Ben said. "Isn't this exciting? There's hope now. At least for America, I mean. If Gordon Freeman has actually reappeared in Europe he just might be able to help free the planet."

"Things will never be the same, though," Chell said. "We'll have to rebuild the government and everything."

"You don't understand, Chell," Ben said. "We have a chance for a new start. Things could be better. You'll see. Anyway, are you about ready to go?"

"Yeah. Do you want to come in and wait?"

"Alrighty." Ben followed Chell into the small living room and she noticed how large his bag was.

"You sure are taking a lot with you," she remarked.

"Like I said, it's all that I can carry." Ben sat down on the couch. "I'll wait here until you get ready."

Chell went back into her room, and stuffed her toothbrush and hairbrush into her bag before pulling the straps up onto her toned shoulders. She went over to her closet and slid open the door. The filthy Companion Cube was sitting there at the bottom of the closet. Her guardian angel had given it to her. Did he miss it? He had seemed obsessed with it so she expected that he did. She remembered dragging it for hours until she had found the nearest city. She'd had to hide it so that the Combine soldiers wouldn't confiscate it. It made her happy just to stare at it before she went to bed. It also reminded her of the wheat field and her round metal friend. "Wheatley." His name lingered on her lips. She missed him so much sometimes that she would dream about him—when he was kind to her and helpful. She would also have nightmares, though, about how terrible he had become and the cruel words would echo through her head. What really hurt, though, was when he had gotten so emotional during their final showdown. He'd been so angry, but he had suddenly seemed very helpless. And vulnerable. "I could have died, you know," he'd said. "I risked so much to get you to her chamber and how do you repay me?" He'd sounded on the verge of tears. She had been grateful of his help and she hadn't wanted to hurt him. But what had she done when he opened up to her? She'd hit him with more bombs.

"Chell?" Ben asked as he stopped in her doorway. "What are you doing?"

_How long have I been standing here?_ she wondered. "I'm just trying to figure out how I'm going to bring my Cube," she said to Ben.

"Listen," Ben said. "I know that it means a lot to you, but maybe we should just leave it."

"That's out of the question," Chell practically snapped at him. She took a breath to calm down and said, "You wouldn't understand. I've told you about the man who helped guide me through that facility. He gave me this Companion Cube as a memento. It would feel disrespectful of me to just abandon it in this musty apartment."

Ben sighed. "I understand," he said. "It's like how I keep the flask that my father used to carry around. We'll find a wagon that we can pull it in, okay?"

Chell smiled. "Thank you," she said. She embraced him with a tight hug. "You're a great friend. You've done so much for me." Her voice started to shake a little.

"Are you okay?" Ben asked as he rubbed her back.

"I'm scared," she said. Ben was surprised by this blunt display of negative emotion. She was usually so reserved when it came to fear or anger. "I don't want to have to kill anyone, Ben. Not even Combine soldiers."

"You won't have to," Ben reassured. "Most of them have moved to Europe at this point. It will be a peaceful journey to Black Mesa. I'm sure of it."

Chell squeezed him tighter and whispered, "Thank you."


End file.
